While You Were Away
by ElizabethCauldeen
Summary: Ginny's world is torn apart the moment Death Eaters attack her brother's wedding, and she's left to pick up the pieces not only at home, but at Hogwarts as well. Ginny, Neville, Luna and Colin fight Snape's reign on their school by restarting the DA and wreaking havoc on their headmaster and the Carrows. Canon relationships, and some new ones too. M for violence and language only
1. Chapter 1 - The Wedding

Ginny Weasley was staring intently at the glass of champagne in her hand, following the rising bubbles with her chocolate brown eyes. The boy who'd handed her the drink, Miguel, was prattling on about some aspect of Beaubattons, which he was apparently under the impression she would find fascinating.

"Are you trying to catch a humcup?" interrupted a singsong voice. Ginny looked up and smiled at Luna Lovegood. Her friend's pale face was pink in the cheeks from dancing.

"Should I be?" Ginny asked sweetly. Luna had a wonderful way of distracting her when she needed it, sometimes with a sort of sixth sense that drew them together.

"Well they aren't terribly useful, but daddy says they're quite beautiful. You're better off using soda water though, the champagne attracts more of them, but they get rather silly once they spend too much time in the glass." Luna explained to Miguel's bewilderment.

Ginny took the opportunity and delved into the topic of magical creatures with Luna, and it wasn't long before she looked up and noticed Miguel moved on to another guest. She sighed with relief and Luna changed topic as if she'd been watching too.

"I thought you would be sitting with Harry, weddings can be quite romantic."

"I guess so, but that's probably why we're avoiding each other" Ginny sighed, glancing at the redhead on the other side of the dance floor, who was supposed to be her cousin. She set down her glass and leaned closer to Luna.

"You really mustn't tell anyone about us Luna, Harry and I - we - well, he needs us to be apart." Ginny explained softly. "If the Death Eaters knew about us, they'd use me to get to him. I hate going along with his chivalry nonsense, but Hermione's right, he _is_ too much of a hero sometimes."

"I won't tell anyone. I'm fairly sure your brothers know you love him though, but they won't tell the Death Eaters either." Luna mused, and then suddenly added "would you like to dance with me instead? Then you won't have to lead that other boy on." Ginny grinned at Luna as she noticed Miguel eyeing their table once more.

"Bien sure mademoiselle!" she replied in the French accent she'd perfected over the summer. Luna took her by the fingertips and led her primly onto the dance floor, champagne and humcups forgotten.

The two girls danced through the crowd, Luna leading the pair, twirling and dipping Ginny expertly as they went. Ginny's gold dress spun out like a flower in bloom, then wrapped itself around her slim body as they made their way across the floor. She found herself truly enjoying herself for the first time since those stolen moments with Harry in her room.

The pair dipped their heads in greeting as they pranced around other couples, Charlie winked at them as he waltzed with Madame Delacour. They nearly tripped up Gabrielle's dance partner as Ginny took advantage of a particularly exuberant spin and kissed Fleur's sister on the cheek when she paused mid-twirl.

The song ended all too soon and Luna swept into a low bow, kissing Ginny's hand, her other arm flung out with extravagance. Ginny made a show of turning her face away as if blushing at the attention of her dance partner, letting a few girlish giggles escape her lips.

Other guests clapped as the band took a moment to poise their instruments for the next song, but as Ginny turned to Luna, Kingsley Shaklebolt's voice boomed over the crowd.

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

Ginny spun around in time to see a patronous dissolve from the center of the tent, her hand flying under her dress to pull her wand out of its garter strap. Someone nearby screamed and Ginny found herself slammed to the ground, softening the fall for the small body that had knocked the wind out of her.

"Protego!" Luna's spell was echoed a dozen times around them, Ginny frantically pushing Gabrielle's long hair out of her face, searching for signs of life as chaos erupted around them. Hagrid was rushing towards the masked figure that was bearing down on the three girls. Ginny felt her heart start beating again as Gabrielle moaned and stirred in her arms.

"STUPEFY!" The double spell from her and Luna knocked the Death Eater off his feet.

"Hagrid! Take her, take Gabrielle and anyone else who can't Apparate!" she yelled, lifting the girl's limp body off the floor. Hagrid cradled Gabrielle in one arm and shielded her with his bulk.

On her feet now, Ginny saw Hermione's bushy hair bobbing through the crowd, Harry in tow. If he didn't get out in time, if they were captured and his Polyjuice potion wore off while they were surrounded by Death Eaters…

A jet of red light shot past Harry's head, and Ginny could feel blood pounding in her ears.

"Impedia!" the Death Eater froze where he stood, Ginny sent a Bat Bogey Hex through his mask for good measure. The tent was filled with rebounding spells and loud cracks and guests fled and members of the Order dueled Death Eaters and Ministry workers alike. Ginny felt herself back into someone and spun around, her wand pointed at the space between Bill's eyes and his pointed at the top of her head.

"Stay close" her eldest brother ordered as the two whipped back around, backs to each other, firing shield charms and hexes from the center of what had been the dance floor. Ginny could feel Fleur's long gown brush against her and chanced a glance over her shoulder.

She'd never seen such hate and anger on her sister-in-law's face; her beauty had twisted into a look of indescribable fury, which somehow made her more terrible and breathtaking at the same time. Fleur wasn't flourishing her wand as she had while performing charms over the summer; she was jabbing and slashing at the air and her hexes hit their mark every time.

"Gabrielle is safe, I sent her with Hagrid" Ginny shouted as she and Fleur stunned a pair of Death Eaters. Fleur answered with a few words in French and continued dueling.

"We're outnumbered, they just keep coming!" Bill shouted over the din as he pushed the two women down and a spell grazed Ginny's cheek. Someone was shouting from the other side of the tent.

"We need to hold them off as long as we can" Ginny said desperately as she lifted herself back up and scanned the diminishing crowd for Harry. She wouldn't stop, not until she knew he had gotten away. "Did they get out? Have you- "

"Ginny, DOWN!" Bill roared. But she'd let herself be distracted for a moment too long. She could feel, simultaneously, Bill's arm reach up to her waist to pull her out of the line of fire, and what felt like a battering ram slam into her back between her shoulder blades.

"Stay down you mad girl" she heard Bill growl in her ear, his body lying protectively on top of hers as she lost consciousness.

* * *

The first thing Ginny could feel when she woke was her throat burning. Her eyes flew open to see her mother tipping a goblet of potion into her mouth as someone held her upright on her bed. She pushed them aside and leaned over the edge, her throat burned again as she retched. Taking advantage of her position, she took three shaking breaths as she let her mind race before someone shoved her back up roughly.

Cringing, she let out small scream and shrank back against the wall, her eyes darting around the room. Fleur must have been supporting her when she had woken, but had been pushed aside and was now righting herself. Her wedding dress was singed in places and stained with grass, dirt, and, Ginny nearly retched again, blood.

"Where is Harry Potter?" spat the final occupant of the room, the witch who had shoved Fleur to the ground.

"I… what? How should I know?" Ginny choked, still staring at her sister-in-law. "What happened to Fleur, why's her dress been ruined?"

The Ministry witch slapped her. Ginny could feel that her face was tight with dried blood, and the slap stung sharply against the gash on her cheek. Ginny coughed and sputtered, then forced herself to look at her mother.

"Mum, what happened? Who is she? Why is Fleur wearing her wedding dress? Why was I-" she watched the colour drain from her mother's face as the Ministry witch raised her hand again. Molly reached an arm forward to shield Ginny from the second blow.

"Ginny, do you know what day it is? Do you remember what happened?" Molly asked, her hands clamped on either side of Ginny's face, eyes wide and terrified.

"I… It's Tuesday isn't it? I was helping Charlie de-gnome the garden… He must have…" She let her voice trail off and gave in to the shaking her body had been fighting off since she'd woken. She looked wild eyed from her mother to the other two witches in the room; Fleur had a hand covering her mouth in shock, but Ginny would swear she gave the slightest nod when their eyes met.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Molly turned on the Ministry witch, shielding Ginny from further interrogations. Ginny knew she had to shrink back, had to play the confused child, least she say something to contradict the story the others would have told.

"Stand aside Mrs. Weasley, I agreed to let you be present as your daughter woke, but you will NOT interfere with my questioning." Ginny noticed her mother's hand reach for the pocket she would normally have pulled her wand from, and caught her breath when she realized it was empty.

"QUESTION HER? The child can't remember the past three days, let alone what was done to her last night or where her brother's classmate could be!" Ginny's jaw dropped slightly, although the look of shock was not entirely feigned. It was one thing to see her mother tell off Fred and George, but there was something impressive about seeing a middle aged witch on the receiving end of her rage.

There was a commotion in the hallway and Ginny's father burst through the door, pushing two men in Death Eater robes aside. Ginny flung herself at her father, and as his arms held her in a tight grip, muffling the sound of shouting.

Ginny could feel her father loosen his hold and twist as Fred appeared at Arthur's shoulder and gently pulled Ginny into the hall and led her down to the kitchen.

Fleur followed behind them and joined Bill, who was arguing with a wizard in Ministry robes. George was wrestling slightly with the shoulder of Charlie's robes, which looked torn and scorched. Noting the man next to Bill eye her suspiciously, Ginny sank into a kitchen chair and let Fred fuss over the cut on her face.

"You just missed the new Minister for Magic" George said as he overpowered his brother and began to apply a salve to his wound. "You've been out for about six hours; apparently he didn't think you would have much to say when you came to. Sit still ya git" he added as Charlie tried to pull away again.

"What happened? The last thing I remember is Charlie and I de-gnoming the garden…" Fred raised his eyebrows slightly, evidently remembering that she had skived off that particular chore. The boys skimmed quickly over the events of the past few days to keep up the ruse for the Ministry wizard, now standing alone as Bill ignored him in favour of his new wife. Finally they were able to fill her in on what happened after the Ministry attacked.

"Nearly everyone got out before the second wave of…" Charlie paused and snarled at the Ministry wizard, who seemed to be guarding the doorway. " _Magical Law Enforcement_ arrived. Once dad noticed it was just family left and we were outnumbered three to one, he tried to call us all off... It was so bloody loud; I don't even think half of us heard him. Then…" His eyes grew dark and Ginny saw his fists clench tightly on the table.

"Well, you've always been one to command our attention" George continued in a low voice. "Sounded like a bludger on a bat when that curse hit you." His voice shook slightly and Ginny glanced around the room. Fred, Charlie and Bill were looking menacingly at the stranger near the doorway. George alone was staring at her, his face unrecognizable behind the calm fury.

Finally, Bill broke the tense silence. "Mum insisted the Delacours take advantage of the Foreign Wizards Protection Act and get Gabrielle and one of the other cousins to Saint Mungo's by portkey. The rest of us are under house arrest until interrogations are complete."

"Yes, and I think it's about that time" Arthur's voice made them all jump and he marched down the stairs. Ginny clenched her fists as she got a good look at him; his lip was bloody and he favored his right leg as he limped down the stairs. It seemed like her parents, the two Death Eaters, and the Ministry witch had come to some sort of agreement upstairs though, and Mr. Weasley was ushering them out the door.

"So we're clear? You and your sons may go to and from work, You may take the girl to King's Cross September first. All other excursions are to be cleared with the Ministry until further notice." The Ministry witch huffed as she handed Arthur a half dozen wands.

"Your foreign guests will be given transportation out of the country from Saint Mungo's. Your two eldest sons are to return to their respective homes by the end of the week. We are being more lenient than we should be Arthur, do not test us."

Mr. Weasley's upper lip curled as the four strangers turned and marched out of the yard. The sound of them Disapperating was almost lost as he slammed the door and threw the pile of wands onto the table.

Ginny opened her mouth to explain herself, but was silenced as her mother pulled her out of her chair and began inspecting her. She seemed satisfied with Fred's work on her cheek and began prodding her and feeling her forehead.

"Mum, she's ok, she lied to keep that Ministry hag off her back. I already checked her over" Fred explained, gently pulling his mother back. Molly stepped back and rested her hands on either side of Ginny's face, soaking her in.

"Oh you clever girl, you had me worried sick!" Molly breathed. "I suppose the boys filled you in?" Ginny nodded, the first time she had properly moved on her own in half an hour. She suddenly became aware of her aching muscles. Her mother, it seemed, had been spurred on with the knowledge that Ginny was relatively unharmed.

"Fred, if you're done with your sister, come help me fix breakfast. George, Charlie, set the table. Fleur dear, you really should change if we have any hope of salvaging that dress." The Weasleys numbly followed their mother's orders, but Fleur stumbled slightly on her way up the stairs. Her eyes were oddly out of focus, and Ginny knew the last time she'd seen her own sister, the girl had probably still been unconscious.

Bill had hurried to her side and half carried her up the stairs. Fleur looked about the same as Ginny felt; exhausted, overwhelmed and terrified. She realized she was halfway out of her seat on her way to the stairs to help, then sank back down to give the newlywed couple their privacy.

Bill returned to the kitchen as breakfast was being served. He handed Fleur's dress to his mother and accepted a tray set for two in return before retreating upstairs. Ginny doubted very much that Fleur would be awake when he returned with their breakfast.

Ginny suddenly became aware that Fleur was not the odd one out by remaining in her wedding clothes, although the dress robes the others wore stood out far less than her own extravagant dress.

"Do we know where…?" She asked quietly. She didn't trust herself with the rest of the question.

"No, but I saw them Disapperate while you were with Bill and Fleur." Arthur replied. "You should have gone with Hagrid and Gabrielle. I managed to convince them that Bill was casting your hexes, and we're lucky they believed it."

"I'm not just going to cower with the children when my family is attacked!" Ginny spat. "I can duel better than most wizards who _are_ of age!"

"I'm well aware, but the ministry - " Arthur started, but Ginny cut across him.

"What about Luna? She was with me when the fight broke out, but I… I lost her" she finished, suddenly panicked. She'd left Luna to deal with the Death Eaters on her own, if she'd gotten hurt, she'd never forgive herself.

"Her father took her when he Disapperated." Fred answered quickly. "Looked right terrified until he found her too, I'd recon he's one of many either you or Luna could best in a duel." Ginny sighed and closed her eyes, letting relief wash over her. They'd all made it out safely.


	2. Chapter 2 - Summer Project

Ginny woke that afternoon tucked into her bed, faintly recalling having fallen asleep in an armchair after breakfast. Keeping the thick curtains drawn, she reached into her dresser for a change of clothes, pulled on a dressing gown and crept out of the room past Charlie, asleep on Hermione's cot.

She instinctively picked her wand up from her desk as she passed. Underage witches may not be allowed to use magic outside of school, and she was sure there would be Ministry wizards keeping an eye on the house, but she wasn't going to be caught without it.

She had thought a hot shower would help sooth her still aching muscles, but found that instead, the ache simply moved from her back and shoulders into her gut. As she let the water rinse away the physical marks from the night before, the white noise of the shower seemed to bring her memories into sharp relief.

 _You could have gone with him_

No, they had made it plain that they needed to do go alone

 _All you would have had to do was grab his hand_

I still have the Trace on me; I'd have been useless and dangerous to have along

 _You could have asked him to stay- he would have stayed if you asked_

I can't ask them to put a war on hold for a year so I can tag along!

 _He wanted you to ask him to stay._

Ginny fumed at herself as she toweled her hair and kicked her way into her jeans, she hated herself for wishing he'd changed his mind, wishing he'd chosen her over the war. How could she possibly have imagined, even for a moment, that he would have given up his mission for her, passed it on to someone else, stayed with her to fight the war from home?

She threw her towel at the wall, not bothering to watch is slide into the laundry hamper, and stormed out of the bathroom. She was barely aware of where she was going. She crouched on her knees in the empty kitchen and opened the cupboard under the sink, pulling out large metal boxes her father had hidden there.

Filling her arms with as many metal rods, boxes and glass jars of metal bits as she could carry, she made her way out to the back garden, where she set her sights on the large, glossy dance floor in the middle of the yard. Someone must have let wizards in to take down the marquis, but left the pool of smooth gold to clean up after they'd slept or come home from work.

Ginny felt that, in a perverse way, it would be the perfect place to work, and set the strange instruments down in a heap on the edge. She pulled a pair of dragon hide gloves from the pile and walked to the chicken coop, wrenching open the door.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness in the coop, but soon she could make out odd, large shapes against the back wall. She blocked the door open and began throwing chunks of twisted metal into the yard until only the largest pieces remained.

Damp hair sticking to her face, Ginny grabbed hold of a handlebar and pulled until she could hear metal scraping on the wooden floor. It took nearly half an hour to excavate the last of the debris, Ginny swearing and twisting and jerking the whole time.

Finally, Ginny found herself standing in the center of the dance floor surrounded by the remains of Sirius Black's motorbike. With no plan, no real sense of purpose, Ginny reached into the pile of her father's tools and took out a handful of metal bars with loops on one end and sat herself next to the largest piece, which seemed to be the belly of the bike. She fitted the loop end of one of the bars over a bolt and turned it as hard as she could.

"FUCK!"

Ginny's knuckles had slammed into solid metal as the tool slipped off the bolt. She gingerly removed the glove from her throbbing hand to inspect the damage, wiggling her fingers. Three deep breaths later she used her left hand to rummage around for a smaller tool, testing its size on the bolt.

Three failed attempts later, she found a tool with the right sized loop and, giving her right hand a final shake, she grasped it firmly and pushed. The bolt moved a fraction of an inch, but she was sure she hadn't imagined it. She repositioned herself and braced her legs on the rest of the bike, this time pulling from the opposite side.

A quarter of an hour after picking up the first tool, Ginny pulled the bolt free and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Spurred on by her triumph, she immediately started on the next one, then the next, and the next.

Ginny was faintly aware that once in a while, someone would come into the garden and speak to her, but she ignored everything but the shredded remains of the motorbike that surrounded her. She was wrenching and pulling and swearing and shouting and sweating, and sometimes she couldn't tell if her arms burned more than her hands smarted or than her eyes stung, and she didn't care.

When she ran out of bolts, she took a short metal rod that had been flattened on one end and began prying off dials and facings and anything else she could get to.

By the time Ginny had run out of pieces to take apart with brute force, the sun was hanging low in the sky. She kicked her feet out from their crouch and landed on her bottom, staring at the wreckage surrounding her. Her nostrils were burning from the smell of petrol her face felt gritty, and she was fairly sure her red hair was streaked with black grease.

"Ginny?" Came her mother's voice from behind her. Ginny's heart was still beating twice as fast as it normally did and her right hand was shaking slightly. She gave a grunt of acknowledgement.

"Come in and wash up, you need to eat." She was sure Molly hadn't meant for it to be a request, but the concern in her voice didn't make for a convincing order either.

"I'm not done" Ginny had spotted one of the smaller pieced she had thrown from the chicken coop earlier and reached out to dismantle it.

"Not done? What is it exactly-"

"Laissez-faire, she needs zis." Fleur's voice interrupted Molly's.

Ginny continued disassembling everything she could get her hands on, but glanced up as Fred and George joined her, using their wands to twist apart some of the more mangled pieces. Some damage wasn't repairable, so they cast those pieces aside and continued passing her new fragments to work on as night fell.

Finally, the three had kicked aside every piece they could find, and there was not a thing left to take apart. Ginny's body still ached, but it was a good ache, of a day full of hard work and physical labor. She turned to see her father leaning against the back door with a mug of tea, staring at her intently.

"Are you done, then?" he asked, no emotion showing on his face.

"Yes." She was suddenly aware that Arthur had probably wanted to fix the motorbike, not have it used as a target for his teenaged daughter's wrath.

"Right, not a single piece left to take apart?" He was still staring at her evenly.

"Not one."

"Alright then. Tomorrow, we start putting it back together." He said as he calmly turned back towards the house. "Your mother made pork roast, we saved you a plate."

* * *

By the time it was time to see Bill, Fleur and Charlie off the following afternoon, Ginny was once again covered in grease and petrol, and smelled very strongly of Mrs. Skowker's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover.

"You've got your ticket?" Mrs. Weasley was fussing over Charlie

"Yes mum, but I'll miss the train if I don't get moving" he said, checking his watch

"Right, I've packed you a supper, and there are a few sausages to get you through the morning…"

"I'll try and come home for Christmas" Charlie smiled, picking up his rucksack and throwing it over his shoulder. "I had wanted to stay for Ginny's Birthday, but I don't fancy hiding in the house for the next week." He glanced at the front gate, where a Ministry wizard was stationed.

"You stay out of trouble, there's enough going on as it is" he said to Ginny, in what she was sure was his attempt at an authoritative tone. Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Is that how you keep dragons in line? Because you're lucky you still have both arms if it is." she quipped

He shook his head and pulled her into a one armed hug, doing his best to avoid any particularly grubby spots on her t-shirt as he kissed the top of her head. He kissed his mother and Fleur, shook hands with Bill and Arthur, and walked to the edge of the yard before disaperating.

"That's our turn then love" Bill said, kissing his wife on the cheek before making his rounds with the rest of the family.

"We will get settled and take ze rest of our zings when we see you next week" Fleur kissed two clean spots on either side of Ginny's face.

"Shouldn't you two be taking a little longer to settle in than that?"

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasly scolded.

"I just mean - You won't even get a proper honeymoon - You don't need to - " Ginny was stammering. There had never been so few people at the Burrow in the summer, she did honestly like the idea of having more than just her parents, and possibly Fred and George, to celebrate with.

"Shell Cottage is beautiful Ginny, we'll be honeymooning for the next fifty years. Besides, I'll want to see if you actually manage to get Sirius' bike back into a recognizable pile." Bill said as he tousled her hair. Ginny half smiled and aimed a light kick at his boot.

With one last kiss for his mother, Bill picked up two small trunks and led Fleur to the spot Charlie has disappeared from. Fleur hooked her arm through Bill's elbow and a second later, they were gone as well.

"Alright well, just the three of us then." Molly smiled at Ginny. "Do you have much more cleaning to do tonight?"

"I don't think so, I've gotten off everything I can without magic anyways."

"Good, good. Go wash up then" She ushered Ginny into the house and pointed her towards the washroom. "Mind you put those clothes straight in the wash pile."

* * *

The next morning, Ginny found her father waiting for her in the living room, dressed in tweed trousers and one of his best Weasley Jumpers.

"Join me on a trip to town after breakfast?" he asked without looking up. He was searching through a rather vibrant backpack that muggle children used to carry schoolbooks.

"What's mum sending us to town for?" Ginny asked, eyeing the bag.

"Just a market run and a few odds and ends"

Ginny wasn't entirely convinced, but rushed through bacon and toast, then took the backpack and put it on, figuring this would look much less peculiar. Both of them walked out the front gate and past the Ministry wizard in silence, Arthur's hand on her shoulder stopped Ginny from muttering insults under her breath until they were out of earshot.

By the time they reached the nearest house, her father was chatting away about various muggle contraptions. Ginny paid just enough attention to keep him distracted as she let her mind wander to thoughts of Ron, Harry and Hermione. Nobody in the house had mentioned any of them around Ginny since that first morning, probably for fear she would choose one of their own possessions to tear apart next.

She had to pay a little more attention once they'd entered the shops, helping her father count out the muggle money at the butcher's and steering him away from a new storefront with miniature cars on display.

"Oh look, they use radio seas!"

"No dad, we should stick to mum's list, now what's next?" Ginny asked as she pulled on his arm and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright, just one last stop up at the corner there." Ginny noticed he actually looked more excited as they left the shop window. As they made their way up the street, Ginny noticed what looked like an empty lot on the corner, but the ground was paved and there was a huge flat roof overhead, held up by six wide pillars. Ginny stopped at the last building before the odd lot and peered in the window.

"It looks like a camping shop dad, but I don't think they're open."

"No no, just next door here. Look, the sign's lit." Ginny followed her father's finger to a rundown building that sat at the back of the lot. It seemed to be attached to the ridiculous roof and was covered in peeling grey paint, except for two large metal pieces of wall and several large, barred windows.

Arthur walked towards the glass door, which was covered in dozens of faded decals and stepped inside, Ginny on his heels. They stepped into a sort of office, it wasn't like any Ginny had ever seen. There were large buckets stacked up again the walls, which were covered in shelves of plastic bottle and metal cans. A large desk that took up most of the room, piled high with sheets of white, yellow and pink paper, and a single battered looking door with a "No Admittance" sign nailed to it were the only things Ginny could recognize. The entire place was coated in a thick layer of greasy dust and smelled sickly sweet.

"What can I do yeh for?" Ginny nearly jumped as a burly man appeared through the door that she assumed let to the back of the shop.

"Hello! We're looking for –" Mr. Weasley began

"Don't sell maps, try the sweet shop down the way." The man interrupted. Ginny raised her eyebrows. She couldn't fathom what her mother needed from a place like this.

"I'm afraid you misunderstand," Arthur called to the man, who had already turned his back to them.

"I've inherited a motorbike from my wife's cousin, and my daughter Ginny here has taken quite a shine to it." The man looked down at Ginny with a puzzled expression.

"Trouble is, she was a little… _overenthusiastic_ in dismantling it and we haven't a clue how to get it back together." Arthur finished with a chuckle, reaching behind Ginny to unzip the backpack and remove a few items. He placed several pieces of Sirius' motorbike on the desk, and Ginny saw names and serial numbers printed on them.

"What in the bloody hell didja do to this, girl?" the man asked as he picked up a particularly shredded piece.

"It wasn't all me!" Ginny said defensively.

"Hagr – well, someone crashed it. I fixed most of the pieces; I just can't figure how they all go back together." There was a heavy silence as the man stared at her, almost in disbelief.

Ginny met his dark eyes and refused to look away, soaking in the rest of his appearance. His thin grey hair was pulled back like Bill's, his beard grey and wirey, just reaching his chest, and his skin was leathery like he'd spent much of his life in the sun.

"Humph." The silence ended as the man grunted and began rummaging through his desk. From the clutter her pulled a magnifying glass and held it up to one of the pieces Arthur had brought.

"Looks like a Bonneville…" the man muttered as Ginny and Arthur glanced at each other.

"Not much to work with here…" he picked up yet another piece to inspect, squinting at the stamped numerals. After a few moments he started rustling through his desk again and pulled out a stained pad of note paper.

"Take this…" he began scribbling in blocky, disjointed script "to Hugh's in London. If anyone can fix this scrap it'll be Hugh." He tore off paper and handed it to Ginny, who stowed it in the side pocket of her backpack.

"Thanks, but I'd rather do it myself" Ginny answered.

"We were thinking it could be a little project for Ginny over the summer. We live just outside of town and she's our youngest, we're not used to only having her home all week…"

"That's quite the project for one kid" the man interrupted with raised eyebrows. "But this isn't a bad starter bike, these old models are easier to work on, but getting parts can be a bitch. Hugh should be able to get you started, might be able to track down the parts you need too." Ginny thought she noticed he was speaking a little faster now, and his face seemed more relaxed. She chanced a smile at him.

"Right, bring ol' Hugh the parts you're stuck on and tell him Mike sent ya." He seemed to immediately fall back into his gruff character, and Ginny found she had to bite back a laugh.

"Thank you very much Mike. We really appreciate it and we'll be sure to stop by if we need anything else." Arthur held out his hand, which Mike grasped only briefly as Ginny started packing parts back into her bag.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm using the bike from the movies, a 1959 Triumph Bonneville for anyone who cares to know.


	3. Chapter 3 - Happy Birthday

Ginny spent most of Monday morning moving parts of the motorcycle around her workspace. She first tried pilling pieces together that looked similar, then spreading them all out so she could see everything at once. She had been anxiously awaiting her father's return since he had left for work with a bag of scrap metal and the address Mike had given them.

Ministry workers kept aparating in and out, changing shifts or stopping by to update their coworker who was watching the house. After Ginny ran to the front of the house to look for her father for the third time, Molly called her inside to help in the kitchen.

"Have you given much thought to what you'd like for dinner Sunday?" her mother asked, handing her a bag of potatoes to peel.

"Not really… there's only going to be a few of us though, so there's no point in making a big meal." It was odd to think that there may only be three of them at the table on her Birthday.

"Well Fred and George are going to be here at least for dinner, and your father's working on getting permission for Fleur and Bill to come in for the day, which is just absurd." Molly was counting off on her hands.

"I asked Tonks yesterday but sh-"

"Tonks was here yesterday? Why didn't she wait for us to come home?" Ginny interrupted, feeling hurt. Molly pursed her lips and glanced at her daughter.

"Did she talk to you the night before the wedding?" Molly asked carefully. Ginny suddenly froze and stared at Molly. With everything that had happened since the wedding, Harry's Birthday party was far from her mind.

"The baby…" she whispered "did something happen, is she - ?"

"Oh dear, the baby is fine, I'm sorry, I wasn't sure she'd had the chance to tell you." Molly said hurriedly. Ginny felt a knot untie in her stomach.

"It's just that Remus hasn't taken the news so well - "

"He'll come around, he's crazy about her. It's not like he'd leave or anything." Ginny said passively. Her mother's silence became too heavy and Ginny turned to stare at her.

"He didn't!" Ginny exclaimed, horrified.

"I'm afraid he has" Molly sighed "Tonks says he hadn't said much about the baby since they found out, and with everything going on, he's had too much time to keep in his own head. She figures he's been worrying about passing on his condition, but hasn't had a chance to talk about it. Tonks says he lost his temper and went for a walk. When he wasn't home by morning, she came here to ask if he'd taken a mission."

Ginny muttered some choice curse words under her breath as she violently peeled another potato.

"Well she's got to come, tell her it's the only thing I want for my Birthday and it'll be ruined if she's not there." Ginny threw her potato in the pot, imagining it was her old teacher's face.

Arthur was late getting home, but he brought some old manuals for the motorcycle and a list of parts he'd managed to order. Molly refused to let Ginny start working on the bike so late, so she had to content herself with trying to decipher the diagrams in the tattered books.

* * *

Over the next week, Ginny spent almost as much time at Mike's shop as she did at home. She spent the mornings getting as much work done as she could, but usually ended up running into town after lunch with her books and a list of things she didn't quite understand. Once or twice she thought she spotted a ministry worker following behind at a distance, but Arthur had assured Molly they were only keeping tabs and didn't pose any threat.

Mike was as gruff as ever, but never complained about Ginny's daily visits. He showed her the fenced yard behind his shop and had a few old motorcycles off to one side she could scrounge off of. Ginny noticed that the tea kettle in the kitchenette had started to whistle not long after she arrived most days, as if he'd put it on moments before she walked in the door.

"You've brought your body guards I see" Mike said Ginny let herself through the "No Admittance" door on Saturday.

"Hi Mike. Just my brothers. This is Fred and George, they're pretty handy when it comes to fixing stuff" Ginny explained, tying her hair back.

"Well with you around, I expect they get enough practice." Mike muttered as the twins laughed, already making a b-line for the scrap yard.

"Mum sent lunch, so I'd be nicer if I were you" Ginny teased and pulled a bag of sandwiches from her backpack.

"Alright, let's get to it then. How far did you get last night?" Ginny was already pulling out her books and flipping to the first dog-eared page.

Fred and George were equal parts help and hindrance when it came to working on the bike and it seemed Mike didn't quite know what to make of them. The afternoon was certainly much noisier than it usually was, and a few times Ginny had to distract Mike as the twins used magic to get at some of the parts they needed.

The trio of Weasleys were packing up a few hours later when Mike motioned for Ginny to follow him into the front office where they'd first met.

"Came across this last night after you left, not sure if you'd given much thought to what your bike's going to look like when you're done?" Mike asked. He pulled a grey crate out from behind his desk.

"I'm not sure, I don't even know what it's supposed to look like if I'm honest." She peered inside the crate.

"Well you're welcome to borrow this, just make sure you use a mask and a tent when you're using it. It'll be too cold to paint by Christmas so you'll want to get a move on before you go back to school." Mike explained.

"Thanks Mike!" Ginny wasn't sure she'd be ready to paint anytime soon, but the thought excited her.

"And here. Figured it'd look good with that ginger hair of yours. Should be more than enough." Mike awkwardly handed her a can of paint, it was probably the cleanest thing in the whole building.

"Alright Ginny, ready to go?" Fred and George toppled into the office, carrying plastic bottles and parts at awkward angles.

"Yep, just this last thing. Thanks again Mike." Ginny lifted the crate and smiled broadly as Mike turned to his desk to shuffle some papers around.

"Well you're nearest the door. Mum'll kill us if we're late for supper." George quipped. Ginny hoisted the crate to a better angle and kicked the base of the door open.

Their trip went much faster once they were out of sight of the shop and George charmed the piles to be nearly weightless.

They cut straight into the back yard once they arrived at the Burrow and slipped into the 10 by 10 canvas marquee Arthur had set up a few days earlier. In the center stood what was beginning to look like a motorcycle, though it was held upright by magic.

"Just put those down over there" Ginny directed the boys as she stowed her crate in a corner and stepped back to look at the bike. The paint was covered in scratches which she hadn't bothered asking anyone to magic out, as they were nothing compared to the two scorch marks from where curses had grazed it.

"Think you'll finish before September?" George asked as he prodded the rear tire.

"I think so, having you guys help on the weekends makes it go a lot faster. I could have it done in a few days if I used magic for everything, but I'd rather do it by hand, you know?"

"Nope, but it's your baby" Fred chided. Ginny chewed her bottom lip and crouched down to adjust the position of the fuel tank.

"Back up, mum says you're not to start in on this thing tonight" came Bill's voice from behind her. Ginny jumped and the bike toppled over. He ignored her swearing and stepped closer to inspect the damage.

"It's coming along nicely though. I'll give you a hand tomorrow, mum's just sent me out to call you for dinner." He hoisted Ginny up by the elbow and led the group outside.

"I thought you were coming tomorrow?" Ginny asked.

"We decided to stay the night so we could spend the day with you tomorrow." Bill answered a little too casually. Ginny waited until they were in the house and out of earshot of the ministry worker outside.

"I imagine it's also a perfect cover to meet up with a few order members without causing a fuss?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Bill smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Joyeux Anniversaire!" Fleur sang as the group entered the kitchen. Ginny glanced at her mother as Fleur swooped in to kiss her cheeks.

Dinner was once again a rowdy affair, with Fred and George teasing the newlyweds and Fleur and Molly's bickering, the Burrow was feeling more like home again. Arthur even managed to join them before the plates were all cleared away.

For once, Ginny didn't try to sneak back outside after cleaning up from Dinner. Having four more Order members in the house meant that it was worth staying inside to eavesdrop if she could keep out of her mother's direct line of sight.

Ginny curled into a wicker rocking chair with her motorcycle manual, careful to keep her eyes on the pages and ears open.

"You two back to work Monday?" Arthur asked Bill.

"Mmhmm. Didn't want to take a second week in a row, hard to keep up with things from home. Not that it hasn't been lovely." Bill added smiling at his wife.

"I'm sure they'll be happy to have you back" Fred said from the couch. "Lots of activity around there, and the rest of Diagon Alley's as quiet as ever."

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised" Arthur sighed. "Mostly muggle borns I expect." Ginny had to remind herself to turn a page and pretend to read.

"They're going to go through with it then?" Bill asked sounding defeated.

"I'm sure of it. Dolores Umbridge was just given her own department, under the radar of course until there's an official announcement." Ginny's hiss at Umbridge's name was covered by Fred and George's poorly-disguised coughing fits.

"When do you think they'll come out with it? They must be waiting for a reason." Molly said, pointedly ignoring Fred's particularly foul mouth. Arthur sighed and removed his glasses to clean them on his jumper. He glanced at Ginny as if he wanted to make sure she was listening.

"We think they're going to announce it after September 1st. Parents are less likely to leave the country with kids at school and muggle born students aren't likely to hear the rumors before they get to the train anyways." Arthur said. Ginny felt her heart racing but knew better than to interrupt.

Bill let out a low growl that reminded Ginny of Sirius.

"So they're going to let parents send their kids to Hogwarts, then announce this registry program? That's sick." Bill got up and started pacing the room.

"I know, but we're doing our best to get the word out. Rumors are the best tool we have now, and I've been talking to Xeno Lovegood about putting something in the Quibbler." Arthur said.

"We still see a fair few muggle borns in the shop, I'll start slipping them word." George added. "It'll at least give them time to get a story together if things get as bad as you say." Fred nodded in agreement.

Ginny's mind was fuzzy. Tonks had told her what it had been like when they introduced the Werewolf Registry, but that was easier to avoid. Most wizards weren't werewolves, but muggle born? Colin, Dennis, Dean, Terry, Justin… Not to mention the countless students with a muggle born parent... Would they be arrested if they didn't register? What if they did?

Ginny half listened to the rest of the family for the next hour before Molly announced it was time for bed. She dawdled just long enough to catch George's eye and jerk her head towards the hallway.

Fred and George came into her room as Ginny was pulling apart her school trunk, which until now had remained untouched. She dug into the pockets of her robes before throwing them on the floor with a Galleon clutched in her hand.

"I should have had Hermione do this before she left, can either of you modify a Protean Charm?" She asked, holding out the coin, which George took.

"Brilliant, so long as the DA members are keeping an eye on theirs that is." George said, passing the coin to Fred. "I believe that was your specialty."

"Trust me, the rest of the DA doesn't know Harry's gone, they'll be waiting for a message from him if they think something's up." Ginny said as she watched Fred do the complex spell.

"There, that should do. Might come in handy once you're back at school too." Fred said as he held out the coin. He touched the tip of his want to the center, making it glow. A second later the coin looked normal again, completely unchanged except for the inscription around the edge.

 _Muggle Born Registry immanent. Run or ally._

* * *

With three brothers visiting and Arthur only putting in a half day, Ginny had to pin up the sides of her marquee to make room for everyone to get at the motorcycle. Bill had an especially good knack for the mechanics, although whatever he accomplished seemed to take longer once their father came home.

Added to the tent was a modest collection of gifts, including what Bill informed her was a miniature ratchet set. Her favorite by far though was the metal badge emblazoned with the word "Triumph" that would be attached to the finished bike.

Even Fleur and Molly spent most of the afternoon in the garden, though they never ventured too close to the rowdy group working on the bike. It was a beautiful day, and for once the air was light and filled with laughter and teasing instead of heavy and silence.

"You know Ginny, I think we just might get this thing running soon" Bill said

"That's the plan, maybe I'll use it to get to the train" Ginny grunted as she shimmied further under the bike.

"That'll be the day. Pass me those pliers Fred." Bill chuckled.

"No dad, not- ARRRRG!" Ginny tried to roll onto her side to shield herself from the fountain of oil that Arthur had just released.

"I'm sorry!"

"Watch it!" George yelled as he grabbed the bike, which had been knocked over in the shuffle. Fred grabbed Ginny by the ankles to pull her out of the way. Bill was now holding one end of a thin black hose in one hand and trying to reach the clamp Arthur had dropped with the other.

CRACK!

The five-headed tangle of Weasleys looked up at once, causing the bike to fall once more, which Ginny caught just in time.

"What in Merlin's name…" Tonks asked, taking a step forward. Remus stood beside her looking dumbfounded. Ginny could feel her heart pounding as she half-kneeled, pinned to the spot, feeling completely absurd.

Remus stared at Ginny, then the bike, then the mess of metal surrounding them and his lip twitched. Before Ginny could register what was happening, Remus burst out in outrageous laughter, collapsing on the ground in front of them.

"You look – oh Merlin -" he choked between gasps for air. "I never thought I'd see –"

"Alright, alright, get this damned thing off me!" Ginny groaned as she gave the bike a heave. Remus, still shaking and grinning like a schoolboy, reached up to steady the bike and let Ginny crawl out.

"I thought this old heap was done for" Remus said as he took a step back and regained control of his breathing.

"We thought so too, especially after Ginny tore it to shreds." Bill said as he repaired the hose. Remus' eyes flicked to Ginny and he grinned.

"Should've known." He chided before picking up a fuel gauge to inspect. "Sirius bought this thing after his parents threw him out, it's taken a beating before." He seemed to be lost in the memory.

"Let's have a look then," Tonks said, deciding it was safe to approach now. Ginny delved into their progress, pointing out the trickiest bits and showing them the tricks Mike had taught her.

Molly didn't bother calling them for dinner until dusk, and even then had to remind them three times before they would go wash up. That in and of itself took nearly half an hour. It was very nearly the perfect Birthday.

The last three weeks of summer passed by in a blur, the highlight of which was riding the motorcycle to Mike's shop to show him it's crimson paint.


	4. Chapter 4 - September 1st

"We're in here Ginny!" Luna called from a compartment at the end of the car. Ginny pushed past a group of third years and dragged her trunk down the corridor.

"Missed you this summer, but mum says you can visit at Christmas" Ginny said as she stepped into the compartment.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed, wheeling around to close the door behind her. "Didn't you get my message?" she turned to stare at Colin Creevey in disbelief.

"Oh that was you? I thought Harry sent it." Colin shrugged. "It's fine Ginny, Sean and I have a plan." Ginny narrowed her eyes at the other boy, who smiled shyly at her. He was the newest addition to their little group and was still a bit afraid of her, unlike Colin.

Ginny sat down, but kept her eyes fixed on the pair of boys. Colin was lounging across three seats, his head of mousy hair was sun-bleached and resting on against Sean Peakes, who must have grown another six inches over the summer.

"Well?" Ginny pressed after a moment.

"Turns out my mum was Mr. Peakes' half-sister. Dad lost touch after she died, didn't know she was a witch, see. Not til Dennis and I started at Hogwarts." Colin explained. Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Sean, do you know how dangerous that is?" Ginny asked. Sean's dark eyes flicked to her and then to Colin.

"I… well you know how he gets…" he muttered. "Dad said it was ok, as long as we're careful."

"And this is careful?" Ginny scoffed, motioning to the pair of them. Colin groaned and sat up, putting his feet on the seat between Ginny and Luna.

"Do you have any proof?" she pressed.

"Course not, it's not true is it?" Colin joked as he dodged a kick from Ginny.

"Dad works in the ministry, he's taking care of it." Sean offered. Ginny chewed her bottom lip for a moment before accepting it. Having Colin around would make Hogwarts without Harry easier to bear.

"So Dennis came back too?" She asked, deciding to put the hostility aside.

"Yeah, he and Jimmy like the idea of being cousins. We spent a week at their place and dad was ready to kill them both by the Wednesday." Colin said. Ginny laughed, comforted that they probably spent more time studying each other's families than they'd ever admit.

"I don't fancy being a Gryffindor Prefect with those two around." Sean said rolling his eyes. Colin and Sean entertained the girls with stories of their brothers' antics until the lunch trolley arrived, followed shortly by Neville.

"I was wondering where you'd gotten to" Luna said as Neville picked up Colin's legs and tossed them off the seat next to her.

"Took over as Prefect with Ron being sick. Gran told me." He said looking at Ginny. "She also told me" he said, leaning over at and staring accusingly at Ginny "that you've taken to riding a motorcycle." Sean clapped Colin on the back, who had just choked on a pumpkin pasty.

Ginny's face split into a wide grin as she pulled on a chain around her neck, revealing a small silver key.

"Blimey! Where'd you get it?" Neville asked in awe.

The excitement over the motorcycle only lasted a few minutes, as Luna had spotted the Dailey Prophet sticking out of Neville's pocket.

"Moment of truth I suppose" Colin said, sitting upright and betraying how nervous he was. Luna flipped the pages until she came to a list of names in the center of the paper.

"Supposed Witches and Wizards Wanted for Failing to Register as Muggle Borns with the Ministry of Magic" She read out.

"What do they mean "supposed"?" Colin spat, leaning forward. He made Luna read through the C's four times before he slumped back against the seat. Luna started reading again from the top of the list, mumbling until she came to a name they recognized.

The compartment was quiet when she finished.

"So Dean and Hermione are on the list, they must be on the run." Neville said breaking the silence.

"Not Justin though, has anyone seen him on the train?" Sean asked. Although Justin Finch-Fletchley was a year ahead of Sean, Hufflepuffs tended to look out for one another.

"I didn't see him in any of the compartments…" Neville's voice was barely above a whisper. Nobody moved, though Ginny was sure she saw Sean give Colin's hand a squeeze.

Unable to take the tension, Ginny flipped through the rest of the newspaper before coming back to the front page.

"Bloody hell!" She gasped, staring at the headline. "Neville, why didn't you say anything?"

"Well it's not exactly the best news, is it?" he replied, glaring at Severus Snape's photograph. "You don't want to read the article, especially after eating." Neville said, flipping over the paper.

"Highlights are, he's a bastard and will be running the school like a Death Eater recruitment center. I had to hide it from Gran this morning; she might have tried getting on the train with me if she'd seen it." Neville continued.

"I think it's time we reunite the DA" Luna said, pulling out her gold coin.

"And with Snape as Headmaster, we should start with the Disillusionment charm." Ginny said. She had a mental list of spells she's been working on whenever Tonks had visited over the summer. Neville pulled out a piece of parchment and quill to start making notes.

"We should review shield charms and stunning spells too" Neville added.

"What about the Patronus charm?" Sean asked "Colin showed me last year, wouldn't put it past the Death Eaters to send Dementors to the school."

"Luna? You were the best next to Harry." Neville asked as he scribbled faster. Luna smiled sweetly and nodded.

* * *

As they queued up for the carriages in Hogsmead, they were joined by Seamus and Michael Corner, who Ginny had to hush when they started asking about Harry and the DA.

"Not here! Grab a seat with Neville and Luna, they'll fill you in" she whispered as Colin tugged her away by the arm.

"You're an incredibly needy person, did you know that?" She muttered as she climbed in the door of a carriage behind him. Sean was already settled into a corner.

"You know, after being away from you for two months, I'd nearly forgotten." Colin teased. Ginny closed the door behind her and took Arnold out of her pocket to play with. It took until the carriage lurched forward for her to notice that the Colin was being uncharacteristically quiet.

Ginny looked up at to see him glance awkwardly at Sean, then back to her.

"So… you're sort of right" Colin said

"Of course I am, but what's new about that?" Ginny replied with a smile.

"About us having to be careful. It's not just me, it's Dennis too, and Sean and Jimmy and our parents. I know that" Colin was staring at Ginny intently.

Ginny sighed "You had to know that going in Colin, but you're not on the list, so as long as you two don't let on…"

"I'm also wondering how you're planning on keeping the Death Eaters away from _you_ ," Colin interrupted. "Harry was the last boyfriend you had, everyone know that. If you look like you could still be with him, or waiting for him…"

"Are you suggesting I start snogging someone as a decoy? Would it be so hard to believe that with a _war_ going on I simply don't have time for a boyfriend?" she asked hotly.

"Well…" Colin looked at her sheepishly. Ginny leaned forward, but Sean held up his hand to stop her.

"Listen Ginny, you haven't been single for more than two weeks at a time since the beginning of fourth year." Sean said steadily. "If you want Harry to look like a passing fling, you need to think about what you're going to do."

Ginny chewed her lip. Fuck. They were probably right.

"There was already talk about Colin and me at the end of last term, and if we're going to keep him safe, we need to put that thought out of everyone's mind." Sean continued.

Ginny looked up suddenly, her eyes flicking from Sean to Colin, both of whom were staring at her, waiting for her to catch on.

"You want me to… _date_ Colin?" She asked. The carriage was silent again.

"It wouldn't be like, for real" Colin said breaking the silence. "I know you don't want to date anyone, but other people will expect you to. They'll think you're in love with him if you don't." he paused to gauge Ginny's reaction. She stared back at him, ignoring the taste of blood that told her she'd torn the skin on the inside of her lip.

"It wouldn't be hard to convince people, remember what Romilda Vane said about us in third year? You wouldn't even talk to me for a month!" Colin chanced leaning forward and dropped his voice. "If people think we're together they'll think you've moved on from Harry. They'll believe Sean and I are cousins. _Please,_ Ginny."

Ginny closed her eyes for a moment and touched the key around her neck, she couldn't think properly with Colin looking so helpless. But it made sense. It would mean she wouldn't be badgered for weeks before each Hogsmead visit. It would mean keeping Colin safe, keep his relationship with Sean a secret so they could continue their charade as cousins, and he kept her sane. Ever since their second year, he had been the one person she could confide in, go to when she needed to talk about her brothers or her nightmares or Harry.

Harry. This was what Harry would want her to do.

"Alright." She breathed. "But I'm not snogging you." Colin lunged forward, wrapping her in a tight hug. Ginny glanced over his should a Sean, who smiled gratefully at her.

"Okay, get off me, we're almost there" Ginny laughed, pushing Colin to the floor.

Colin was grinning from ear to ear until the moment Ginny opened the carriage door. The entrance way to the school was guarded by half a dozen witches and wizards, including at least two Death Eaters that Ginny could recognize.

"Think they're checking for muggle borns?" Sean whispered as he followed the other two up the steps. Ginny unconsciously took Colin's hand as they approached the double doors.

"Ginny Weasley. Gryffindor." She announced before the witch who approached them could ask. Her thin orange hair was streaked with grey and pulled back so tightly it looked slick. The witch ran a stubby finger down her list before moving on to Colin.

The great hall was buzzing as they walked in, but it wasn't the usual chatter of excited students that usually preceded the start of term feast. Small clusters of students gathered at their house tables, making the hall look even emptier than it already was. Ginny was sure at least a quarter of the students were missing.

Neville waved at them unsmiling from across the hall and Sean smiled at Colin reluctantly as he made his way to the Hufflepuff table.

"They took a fourth year as we got out of the carriage." Neville said as they sat down.

"Do you think they were muggle born?" Ginny asked feeling sick.

"I think so, that blond girl who tried out for Beater last year." Neville replied looking somber. "I didn't realize what was happening until Michael took a curse trying to go after her." Ginny glanced at the Ravenclaw table and saw Padma Patil gently inspecting her ex-boyfriend black eye.

"Rebecca Thompson, she was on the list in the Prophet." Colin said "I'm sure there was nothing you could have done. They've been planning this for weeks."

Students fell silent as Professor McGonagall escorted the first years to the front of the hall. Ginny counted less than two dozen. The Sorting Hat's song seemed to echo off the rafters.

Gryffindor did their best to cheer with enthusiasm as each of their five new students joined them, but everything sounded hollow. Silence fell as Snape rose from the headmaster's chair and Ginny fought the urge to retch.

"Welcome," Snape said, staring down the end of his nose "to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor Snape, and as some of you may have been able to deduct, Headmaster." He paused as if to let the room settle, but no one had dared make a sound.

"Additions to staff this year include Professors Carrow and Carrow, who will be teaching Dark Arts and Muggle Studies classes." The ginger haired woman from the front steps rose briefly, as did the man next to her. Both wore identically evil grimaces.

"We have increased security measures surrounding the school and patrols of the castle will be in place nightly." Snape directed attention to a group of wizards in plain black robes with silver badges pinned to the front who were standing at the back of the hall. "These witches and wizards will be on the grounds at all times. Students are to obey their orders above all else."

"Finally, all class schedules are final. Students will not have the opportunity to drop a class they are doing poorly in and any absences must be made up for two fold. Teachers are reminded that all students who have earned a detention are to be referred to Professors Carrow or Carrow." Snape's black eyes swept over the hall, daring anyone to cry out in outrage. Ginny saw Professor McGonagall stare daggers at his back.

"That will be all." Snape said, and the tables filled with the usual start of term feast. It was the only familiar thing out of the entire evening.

"Really making the school his own, isn't he?" Colin spat, reaching for a baked potato.

"This is not _his_ school." Neville hissed. "It's worse than I thought. I think we should start tonight."

"Don't be daft Neville, with all the new security? They'll be expecting something tonight more than ever." Ginny whispered, pulling her DA coin out of her pocket.

"Tomorrow then. He hasn't said anything about curfews, so I say we assume they stay the same." Neville pressed. Ginny pretended to be pulling up her sock, tapping the galleon with her wand under the table.

Looking around, Ginny saw her fellow DA members glance in her direction, nudge their friends or slip their hands into the pockets. They all had the same look of relief and determination on their faces.

At the end of the night, Snape rose from his seat at the head table as the puddings vanished. Students stared up at him, but he seemed to have nothing more to say and swept out of the hall through the door beside him.

The hall erupted as soon as the door slammed behind him. Students were swarming their heads of houses with questions and outrage, while Neville and the other Prefects tried to corral their first years.

"Let's get out of here before McGonagall loses it" Colin suggested eyeing the head table wearily.

"I'll meet you up there, password's Fillius" Neville said as he grabbed a first year by the collar who had tried to follow a group of Ravenclaws.

Ginny and Colin made their way past the security post easily enough, but started sprinting as soon as they were out of sight.

"Look at the bright side," Colin panted as they stepped into the empty common room. "We won't have to take classes from the bastard this year."

"I somehow doubt those Carrows will be any better. They look about as dumb as trolls." Ginny replied as she sunk into her favourite armchair. "And did you notice that he dropped the word 'defense' from Defense against the Dark Arts?"

"We'll pick up the slack there with DA meetings, they're better than the usual classes anyways." Colin reasoned. "Who knows, some of the curses might turn out to be useful. If they play dirty, we might as well."

It wasn't long before the crowd from the great hall filled the common room. Ginny caught Neville's eye and she and Colin followed him up to the 7th year boys dormitory. With three of its five occupants missing in action, it seemed as good a place as any to start writing up a lesson plan for the following night's DA meeting


	5. Chapter 5 - Muggle Studies

Ginny woke up with a start and sat bolt upright in bed, scanning her dormitory frantically. She was just registering that there was something off about the view out the windows when there was a second small explosion.

"Merlin's balls Seamus, it's six in the morning!" Neville groaned from the next bed. Ginny had to duck as a poorly aimed shoe barely missed her head.

"Sorry Ginny," Neville mumbled before falling to the floor in a heap. The night before came back to her as Ginny yawned and stretched.

"Colin get to his bed alright?" she asked, pulling her robes straight before climbing out of the bed Harry usually slept in.

"Had to throw him out around one. Tried to get him to take you to your dorm, but the bugger was too smart for us." Seamus said.

"Don't be a git, Seamus" Ginny said. She swung out of bed and averted her eyes as he stripped to his boxers. "I'm going to go wash the stink of bloke out of my hair. I'll see you at breakfast Neville."

By the time Ginny showered and made it to the great hall for breakfast, schedules had already been handed out and students were reaching across pitchers of pumpkin juice and piles of toast to compare classes.

"Yours miss Weasley. And might I remind you there will be no changes, so don't complain to me!" Professor McGonagall said crisply as she handed Ginny a sheet of parchment. "And as it doesn't seem like Mr. Potter returning this year, you will be taking the roll of Quidditch Captain." Ginny barely had time for this to register before Professor McGonagall disappeared.

Ginny found a spot next to Colin and Neville and pilled eggs onto her plate before looking at her schedule.

"Damn, I've got a study block this morning, I could have stayed in that shower. What do you have?" She asked. Colin tore her schedule out of her hands.

"Same as you, except I've got Herbology while you're in Arithmancy!" Colin said, nearly dropping both parchments in the jam. Ginny took hers back and read it through.

"Muggle Studies this afternoon? But I've never taken Muggle Studies before, my dad's bonkers enough thanks." Ginny said confused.

"It's not just you, we've all got it. Don't bother asking McGonagall about it either, we've all tried." Neville said.

"Well that certainly explains her mood." Ginny said as the bell rang. Most of the students filled out of the hall to their classes, leaving the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor sixth years to finish their breakfasts. Luna bounced over to their table and helped herself to one of Ginny's sausages.

"So we're meeting tonight?" she asked

"Yup, we came up with a bunch of review plans last night, and Neville figures we might have more members this year." Ginny said, cleaning off her plate. "Without Harry and Hermione, it's going to be harder. I wouldn't mind getting some practice in before Transfiguration."

"Oh, we have the whole morning together then!" Luna said cheerily. The three of them gathered their things and made their way to the Room of Requirement.

* * *

As was the custom with new teachers, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students crowded the door to the Muggle Studies classroom earlier than usual. Not only were they unsure of exactly how strict Alecto Carrow would be, they were also wary of Snape's threat of double detention for missed classes, which would presumably apply to tardiness as well.

Ginny, Colin and Sean found seats at the back of the class and began pulling quills and parchment from their bags.

"You're in my seat." Came a voice from behind Colin.

"I don't see your name on it" Ginny challenged. She turned to see Romilda Vane with her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

"Not you, him. And he'd have seen it if he'd looked at the seating chart." Romilda scoffed. "I'm no happier about it than you, but I'm not going to get detention because your boyfriend can't read." Ginny looked around and saw the other students were staring at the chalk board at the front of the class.

"Front row, great" Colin muttered as he crammed his book back into this bag and swung it over his shoulder. Sean hopped over the desk he had been sitting at and took his seat between Demelza Robins and Amber Noel.

"So, you and Creevey?" Romilda asked as she took her seat, not bothering to unpack her bag.

"Is that your business?" Ginny snapped back. Romilda was the biggest gossip in their year.

"Well you can understand why I'd be curious. You never did get to our dormitory last night, did you?" She pressed, tucking her black curls behind her ear and leaning forward.

"I got up early to shower" Ginny said sounding annoyed. Romilda's smile broadened.

SNAP!

Romilda and the rest of the class suddenly jerked to attention and looked once more to the front of the room. Alecto Carrow was now standing next to the blackboard, her wand still touching its now blank surface.

"Welcome to Muggle Studdies. I understand many of you have not taken this class in the past, for completely understandable reasons." The Professor began in a grating voice.

"However I assure you that this new curriculum is much more accurate and favorable. If anything, those students who have taken this class in previous years under my predecessor…" She paused and let out a vile little laugh "will be behind their classmates."

Ginny felt a chill run down her spine. Alecto snapped her wand on the blackboard again and three figures appeared there. Ginny's face grew hot as she realized they were ugly, warped caricatures of a man, woman and child – Muggles. The class was silent.

"Muggles have been a plague on Wizard kind since the beginning of time. In this class, you will be taught the truth about these creatures that have lived as our equals for far too long."

"Open your books to Chapter 1, Ancient Wizards and their Place Amongst the Gods. Mr. Alexander, you will read the first paragraph aloud, followed by Mr. Creevey and so on." She finished and sat herself at her desk, a copy of "The Muggle Truth" opened in front of her.

Christian Alexander hunched over his text book and began to read in a barely auditable voice. Ginny hoped he had enough sense not to look at sideways at Colin as he did.

"Many millennia ago, Witches and Wizards ruled over many ancient cultures and civilizations, and were in fact revered by the muggles they presided over. In ancient times, a witch or wizard could perform a simple spell and pronounce themselves the ruler of lands, priests and priestesses to the muggle Gods or, on many famous occasions, Gods themselves. As muggles are known to be quite-" Christian stopped and looked up from his book.

"Go on." Alecto urged. Christian mumbled, but nobody bothered to look at their own books to read what he was trying to say.

"Louder, Mr. Alexander" Alecto's voice boomed across the room. Christian looked the Alecto defiantly as students waited with baited breath.

"As muggles were known to be incredibly fabulous individuals," Colin continued, standing up suddenly, his book held out smartly in front of him. Ginny could picture his smirk through the back of his head. "They were fooled by the lazy, greedy witches and wizards who would reside in their temples and play dressup. The muggles, who were hard workers, would assume the Wizard Gods were imbeciles and would bring charitable offering of food, wine and goods."

The class was laughing so loudly it drowned out the rest of what Colin was saying, and Zacharias Smith had fallen on the floor.

"That's enough!" Alecto screeched. With a slash of her wand, Colin's knees buckled and he crashed back into his chair, hard. Ginny made to leap from her chair, but Sean was faster.

"The muggles, who didn't know the truth about witches and wizards, didn't know we could be such douchebags." Sean continued "and so trusted their Gods were real. Wizards also took advantage of muggle poverty and illiteracy by appearing as the same deity in temples across the land. Instead of being decent human beings and teaching the muggles to fucking read." He managed to get back into his seat just in time to miss Alecto's next curse.

Next to jump up was Demelza, then Ginny had her turn, and then a Ravenclaw named Cadwaller and Zacharias Smith. Soon students were standing just long enough to get a few curse words out before ducking out of the way and letting the next have a go.

"Enough!" Alecto screeched, as her wand cut through the air. Ginny felt her kneecaps smash into the stone floor as her chair flew back against the wall. All around her, students were now kneeling in pain. It looked like Colin had smashed his lip on the edge of his desk on the way down.

"Detention" Alecto said grinning "tomorrow evening promptly at seven o'clock." She stared at the class, daring any of them to protest, but other than measured breathing, she heard nothing.

"That's more like it. Let's keep up the good work. Silencio!" Looking rather proud of herself, Alecto began reading the chapter from the beginning.

Ginny spent the rest of the class staring blankly ahead practicing casting silent spells Hermione had been telling her about at the Burrow. By the end of the class her leg-locking jinx had managed to make Alecto stumble twice.

* * *

When they finally limped into the great hall for dinner, they found Neville fighting off a very insistent barn owl. As Ginny approached it soared into her chest and nearly knocked her off balance. Irritated, she pulled the letter from its leg and threw it into the air.

"From Fred and George?" Colin asked glancing over her shoulder. Ginny nodded and tore the letter open between bites.

 _Ginny,_

 _Hope you made it to school alright and are enjoying your classes. We've got some new projects going at the shop we think you'll like, but we'll have to show you over Christmas. We're guessing our products are still banned from Hogwarts?_

 _Sorry if the owl was irritating, all the post office had left was_ "Urgent Post."

 _XO Fred & George_

Ginny dropped her fork and dove for her bag, pulling out a quill and pushing her plate out of the way.

"What is it?" Neville asked, reaching for the letter. Ginny quickly scribbled out intersecting lines on the back of the envelope, making what looked like tic-tac-toe games and oversized X's.

"It doesn't say anything Ginny?" Neville whispered leaning forward, clearly concerned for her sanity.

"It's not the letter, it's the boarder," she explained, as Neville looked at the rows of squares, triangles and dots that ran across the top and bottom of the parchment. Even Ginny thought it was just stationary print at first glance. She finished filling letters and numbers into the shapes on the envelope and snatched the letter back.

"It's a code Fred & George found in an old muggle joke book. It's dead simple, but not something a Death Eater would be able to work out." She explained, now filling in words under the boarder.

WIRELESS 617PM  
HARRY LETS YOU IN

Ginny checked her watch, it was already past six.

"We've got to go." She whispered, shoving the letter, envelope and quill into her bag. She slipped a Decoy Detonator into her pocket just in case. "If anyone asks, we're going to the hospital wing to have your nose checked out."

"What are you doing, what happened?" Colin asked in a panicked whisper.

"I don't know, but we need to get to a wireless in…" She checked her watch again. "Twelve minutes. We can make it to the Room of Requirement if we don't run into any teachers on the way." Neville and Colin followed her out of the hall, Colin rubbing his nose and Neville making sure to brush Luna's shoulder with his bag as they went.

They walked as fast as they dared until they rounded the corner, then sprinted through the corridors.

"You just need a wireless?" Neville asked as they skidded to a halt in front of the familiar troll tapestry.

"Yes, just hurry!" Ginny panted as she leaned against Colin, her knees screaming.

"Did we move the meeting up?" Luna asked, having caught up to them. She wasn't even out of breath.

"There, get in! How much time do we have?" Ginny said as a large door appeared and she stumbled in.

"It's only 6:15" Neville breathed, glancing at the large clock that had appeared on the wall. The only other differences from the DA's usual meeting space was a large, handsome wooden wireless sitting below the clock, surrounded by squashy looking armchairs. Ginny sank into the one nearest the wireless and took out her wand.

The room waited with baited breath as they watched the second hand on the clock move around its face. Ginny could hear her heart beating in her chest as she tried not to imagine what she might hear in Forty Eight seconds.

Were her parents dead? Had Harry, Ron and Hermione been caught? _Thirty Four seconds._ Was she going to be able to talk to Fred and George through the wireless? Like a muggle telephone? _Nineteen seconds._ Was the wireless somehow a portkey? Could the Room of Requirement make one without being asked? _Four seconds._ Ginny scooted forward and readied her wand, counting the ticks of the overhead clock. _Two seconds._ She closed her eyes. _One Second._

"Harry." She whispered, tapping the wireless with her wand as static suddenly filled her ears.

"Good evening listeners!" Came Lee Jordan's voice through the speaker. "And welcome to Potterwatch! If you've received the time and password to this evening's broadcast, it means someone you know is pretty darned sure you're not a Death Eater. If they were wrong and you are, in fact, a Death Eater, you can kindly sod off." Ginny had been so wound up, she burst out laughing, along with Neville and Colin.

"I always did like his Quidditch commentary." Luna said smiling. She was the only one who managed to keep a straight face.

"Shh, shh, stop it, I want to hear!" Neville said gasping for breath. Ginny wiped a tear from her eye and righted herself in her chair.

"I'm River, your rebellious host. I do apologize for the short notice of our first broadcast, but we have some rather urgent news that we doubt will find its way into the Evening Prophet." At this, everyone was once again quiet. "To deliver the news, I'd like to introduce our first guest, and our very own ministry insider, Ravishing!" Ginny relaxed at Lee's light hearted joking.

"Thank you River" Tonk's voice came through and Ginny could hear her smiling. "To put the rumors flying around London to rest, I can confirm that multiple levels of the Ministry of Magic were infiltrated this morning. We have heard many reports that the perpetrators were none other than Harry Potter and at least two unnamed accomplices masquerading as ministry workers." The entire group let out a victorious yell and Ginny hugged Luna before Neville hushed them again.

"It seems the main target was everyone's favourite pink toad's new Muggle Born Registration Act. I'm pleased to report that nearly two dozen muggle borns and their families fled the ministry following the directions of Mr. Potter himself. We believe this was part of a plan that has been in the works for several weeks." Tonks finished proudly.

"Thank you Ravishing!" Lee said as he came back on the air. "Now, as we've established, the Muggle Born Registry is a complete crock. The Order of the Phoenix and we here at Potterwatch strongly discourage any attempt to register with the Ministry of Magic, as reports are coming in that muggle borns are having their wands confiscated after being accused of stealing them from pure bloods."

Ginny relaxed in her chair, half listening to Lee's tips for evading the ministry and helping muggle born friends. She was running images through her mind of Harry, Ron and Hermione breaking in and out of the Ministry, imagining what it would have been like to join them.

"Thank you for joining us on Potterwatch, you can tune in again this Friday evening at 8:11 by using the password 'Sirius.' Until then, this is River, stay safe and stay together." Lee's voice trailed off into static once more.

"That was brilliant! Was that the bloke who used to do the Quidditch matches?" Sean's voice came from behind them. He and Ernie McMillan were leading a small group of Hufflepuffs into the room.

"We noticed you leave in the middle of dinner, but figured you wouldn't want us to draw attention to you by following." Ernie said with his chest puffed out and chin in the air. Ginny always had to fight the urge to poke him in the ear with a pin and see if it leaked hot air.

"I figured you'd be hungry" Sean offered as he pulled wrapped parcels of food from his bag and set them on the table next to the wireless. Colin grabbed a piece of chicken and tossed a second to Ginny, who smiled gratefully.


	6. Chapter 6 - Defence

Ginny was still on a high from the DA meeting as she sat cross legged on Harry's bed later that night. Neville and Luna were great at helping students while Ginny led from the front of the room. Within two hours, old members were back up to their usual level and those new to the group had a decent grasp of the basics.

"I think we should start each meeting with an in-depth review of an old spell to let anyone who's new catch up, then introduce something new in the second half of the meeting." Neville said as he stepped over Colin, who was sprawled across the floor of the dormitory.

"Aren't we sort of past the point of just meeting and practicing spells?" Colin asked while making notes on the parchment in front of him. "Can't we lead a rebellion against that Carrow hag?"

"We'd have to be able to take out Snape and Amycus at the same time" Neville reasoned, pacing the length of the dormitory. "Not to mention half the Slytherins."

Colin was right though, the DA meetings were great, but they felt like feeble efforts when Ginny considered what Harry and the others were up to. Her heart hadn't stopped racing since she heard the news that the three of them had broken into the ministry only hours before.

"I want to know what they're doing." She announced, feeling determined.

"There's being cowardly shits" Colin said with raised eyebrows. He was drawing rude doodles on the margins of his parchment. "Trying to brainwash us into believing muggles are-"

"Not the Carrows," Ginny interrupted impatiently "Harry and the others, why did they break into the ministry?"

"To free the muggle borns, isn't that what Lupin's wife said?" Neville offered.

"I don't think so, when Remus came to the Burrow for my Birthday he told me he'd tracked them down and they were planning something, and that was weeks ago. If they had that long to plan, especially with how much Ron knows about the ministry, they'd have made straight for the courtroom. They shouldn't have been mucking around on the upper floors where they'd be more likely to be caught." She reasoned, speaking faster now. "When Harry rescues someone, he doesn't wait and plan for weeks, he runs in half-cocked."

"They could have been doing something else, and just rescued the muggle borns once they got there…" Neville nodded, leaning against the window. Ginny thought that sounded more like Harry. "You said that on the train that Dumbledore left Harry the Sword of Gryffindor, but Scrimgeour wouldn't give it to him?"

Ginny thought hard for a moment. It seemed unlikely that the sword would have been left at the ministry, but Harry also didn't have the option to come to the school. But it didn't seem impossible either; Scrimgeour was killed the day after he came to see Harry after all.

"Maybe, but it could have been something else. Hermione was always muttering some kind of list under her breath when she thought I wasn't in the room." Ginny reasoned. The dormitory was quiet again and Neville went back to pacing.

Ginny glanced down at Colin to see him sitting up and staring at her with bright eyes and an excited grin. She cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows.

"Care to share with the class Creevey?" she asked.

"Let's steal it. Let's steal the Sword of Gryffindor." Colin said, jumping to his feet with excitement. He looked from Ginny to Neville and back again, his face was cartoonish in the half light. Ginny held her breath and chanced a glance at Neville, but his expression was unreadable.

"Breaking into Snape's office won't be easy, and we'd be idiots to do it without knowing for sure it's there." Neville said slowly, running his fingers through his hair. Ginny grinned along with Colin and lept from the bed, excited at the prospect of doing something more productive.

"Fred and George stocked me up with stuff from the joke shop for my Birthday, as long as he doesn't know we broke in the first time, we should be able to get in a second time using a distraction." Ginny said as she ran from the dormitory and took the stairs two at a time, pulling a box from the bottom of her trunk before returning to the boy's room.

"He'll suspect anything we used on Umbridge, so scratch the swamp, fireworks and gas" Neville said as Ginny placed the box on Ron's bed and began pulling out its contents. Finally, she pulled out a small brown paper package.

"This will work for the longer distraction. We might need the extra time if there are any enchantments on it" Ginny said, tossing it to Neville as Colin began sorting through the discarded boxes and bottles.

"Luna's the best at breaking protection charms" Neville agreed, stowing the package in his own trunk.

"I can dissolution myself and wait outside his office for a teacher to say the password, and then sneak in once it's empty-" Ginny said, now taking Neville's place and pacing the room.

"No, I'll do it" Neville interrupted awkwardly. Ginny stopped in her tracks and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Neville, you might be a year ahead of me, but I've always been better at Charms than you." Ginny said with an edge to her voice. She bit her tongue to prevent herself from pointing out that she had gotten an O in Charms while he scraped an A.

"So you can dissolution me then, or I'll have Luna do it." Neville replied, a hint of authority in his voice that Ginny recognized instantly. She felt her face get hot as she dropped her hands to her sides and approached him slowly.

"We can take turns during our free blocks, we can't be caught skiving classes" Colin piped up hopefully from Ron's bed. Neville shot him what Ginny was sure he had meant to be a warning look.

"And why can't I do it?" Ginny asked Neville, ignoring Colin's efforts at peace keeping.

She could feel her heart pounding again, but not in excitement like before. All summer she'd been told she was too young to do anything; she'd spent months being locked out of rooms and kept in the dark. And if she did manage to stay long enough to know what was going on, any comments she made were immediately dismissed.

"What am I supposed to tell Harry and Ron if you get caught?" Neville asked, standing his ground.

"The same fucking thing I'd be telling your Gran, or Sean and Dennis, or Luna's dad if something happened to one of you." Ginny said in an even, dangerous voice. Anger welled in her chest as she set her jaw and stared defiantly at Neville.

"It's not the same Ginny. Harry and Ron are my closest friends and they should be here, but they aren't, and if I-" Neville said looking at her steadily. Ginny's anger erupted.

"You're right, they aren't here, for once in my life it's just me, because the rest of my family is fighting Death Eaters and breaking into the Ministry of Magic!" Ginny was yelling, not caring who heard her in the common room. Neville looked shocked and opened his mouth, but Ginny cut across him again.

"No, you know what Neville? Fuck you. I have six brothers already, I don't need any more." She snatched the box off Ron's bed and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

The common room, which had clearly been buzzing moments before as Gryffindor students greeted the gaggle of fifth years who had just returned, stood frozen. Thirty pairs of eyes followed Ginny as came fuming down the boy's dormitory and stomped noisily up the girls'.

Ginny threw herself on her bed and screamed into her pillow so she couldn't hear Colin yelp as he slid down the slide outside her door.

* * *

Ginny woke early the next morning and went down to breakfast before the rest of Gryffindor was awake. The great hall was nearly empty, so she took a seat next to Luna at the Ravenclaw table.

"Good morning Ginny, did you have fun planning last night?" Luna asked, passing Ginny the honey pot before being asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it if that's alright" Ginny answered, spreading honey on her toast. "Tell me about your Herbology class yesterday, did Professor Sprout bring in anything exotic for your NEWT class?"

"I suppose so, but she still hasn't managed to find any Trillants. I did offer to write daddy to see if he could send some from out garden in January." Luna said. Ginny smiled at her and felt overwhelmingly grateful for Luna's sweetness.

"She probably wants to save them for your seventh year. Is it that they bloom in January?" Ginny asked as more students began taking seats around the girls.

"Oh no, but it's the best time to harvest them. The Trillians hibernate in the buds you see, if you try and uproot the plant too soon, you're liable to get stung quite badly." Luna continued.

Soon Ginny and Luna were joined by the rest of the Ravenclaws, and although a few of them glanced at her, nobody said anything about the red haired Gryffindor sitting at their table.

As Ginny was pouring herself a second cup of pumpkin juice, she could feel Neville's eye boring into the back of her head. She chanced a glance over Luna's shoulder as she put down the jug and saw he was sitting next to Seamus looking worried. _Good_. Ginny thought before turning to Luna.

"I'm going to stop by the Charms classroom before Dark Arts Luna, want to come?" Ginny asked, picking up her bag. Luna smiled and followed suit as Ginny ignored both her full goblet and Neville's voice calling after her.

* * *

Professor Flitwick's face split into a sly grin when his two star pupils had asked him if he could include the Disillusionment in the sixth year curriculum.

"There are some other charms I should introduce first; mastering them can make understanding the concept behind the Disillusionment Charm much easier." He squeaked from behind his oversized desk. "But if the rest of the class can keep up, I should be able to introduce it before the end of the month."

"Thank you Professor, a friend showed me over the summer and I've been intrigued ever since" Ginny gushed.

"I can't say I'm surprised, do let me know if there's anything else you're interested in, we might be able to put together some extra credit assignments if the rest of the class isn't up to them." Flitwick said with a wink. "Run off now, you'll be late for your first class."

The girls thanked him again and Ginny waited until they were in the corridor to give Luna a victorious grin, which Luna reciprocated, although next to her triumphant face, Luna simply looked pleasantly pleased with herself.

"Come on, Flitwick's right, we're going to be late." Ginny said as the two half-raced to the Dark Arts classroom.

Colin and the rest of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw sixth years were already in the classroom when they arrived, although there was still a disorganized feel to the room that told Ginny they had at least beat the teacher.

Still, Ginny stopped at the door and peered around in confusion; the desks that were usually lined up neatly were instead stacked in the back corner of the room. The space where the desks had been the year before was large and empty, surrounded by what looked like high bar stools forming a horseshoe.

"Find your places. Wands out. Bags against the walls." Came a gruff voice from the front of the classroom. Amycus Carrow emerged from his office and stood at the head of the horseshoe, next to a familiar blackboard. Ginny scanned it quickly and rushed to her place at the front of the room on the right hand side, leaving Luna at one of the stools near the door.

Romilda didn't chance talking to Ginny so close to the teacher, but there was a familiar buzz of energy that usually accompanied a practical class. It didn't feel quite right though. Instead of excitement, there was an underlying feeling of dread and apprehension.

"Mr. Alexander, there is a crate on my desk. You will take it around the room and place one hare on each stool." Amycus said sharply, not moving from his place at the head of the room. As similar as he was in appearance to his sister, he seemed to have little time for lengthy introductions.

Christian scowled as he left place at the top of the left side of the horseshoe to do what he was told. He took each animal from the crate by the scruff of its neck and placed one gently on each stool as he passed.

"I believe Professor Crouch demonstrated the effectiveness of three powerful curses in your third year. Today you will be practicing the tamest of those three spells on the animal in front of you." Amycus announced.

Ginny's stomach knotted at the look of sheer panic on Luna's blanched face as she stared down at the small, snow white creature trembling in front of her. At once, those who had been inspecting their hares drew their hands away. Ginny took a deliberate step to the right.

All around the classroom, students followed her lead, standing next to their stools instead of behind them, with their hands firmly at their sides. From the corner of her eye, Ginny could see the look of horror of Romilda's face.

"Do not look so shocked. Beasts are used every day in your transfiguration classes. This is no different." Amycus said as he rolled up his sleeves.

"Then you must have failed your second year of Transfiguration," Ginny said with venom, not bothering to raise her hand. "When a living being is transfigured, we are not altering or ending its life, rather-"

"THIS is not Transfiguration Miss Weasley. Fifty points from Gryffindor, for cheek and speaking out of turn." Amycus snapped.

"FIFTY POINTS?" Colin shouted. He was not alone in his outrage, even a few of the Ravenclaw students cried out.

"Another fifty, from each Gryffindor and Ravenclaw." Amycus yelled over the din. A thick silence fell over the room as students stared in shock. Amycus reveled in the quiet for a moment before turning to the blackboard and snapping his wand against it as his sister had done the day before.

Large, bold letters spelled out the words 'Imperius Curse' across the top of the board. Below it, a moving diagram of a wizard pointed his wand directly at an all too familiar muggle caricature. A speech bubble appeared and disappeared repeatedly, containing the word 'Imperio!'

Ginny and the other students straightened up, their wands stubbornly stuck to their sides, and stared straight ahead. Ginny found herself locking eyes with Curtis Bradley, a Chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

"You will do this." Amycus said threateningly as he walked patiently around the room. Ginny refused to move a muscle, not even shifting her gaze as he walked in front of her, momentarily breaking her eye contact with Bradley.

"Another fifty points each then?" Amycus asked the class. There was no indication anyone in the room had heard him. Ginny knew they were all making the connections she had. They were starting with the Imperius curse, but he wouldn't stop there. Next they would move to torture, then killing. And when they mastered these curses on animals? Ginny's stomach dropped as an image of a perverse, cruel dueling club invaded her mind.

"CRUCCIO!" All heads snapped to the bottom of the horseshoe, where Amycus was standing in front of Luna's hare. The sound that filled their ears made Ginny's throat close up as the animal writhed in pain on its stool. Luna was frozen to the spot in terror as tears streamed down her face.

Amycus lifted his wand and the hare collapsed, its eyes wild with panic and fear.

"THEY ARE ANIMALS!" he roared, whirling around to face the rest of the class. "They are less than us, they exist for our benefit! YOU WILL DO THIS!"

Ginny wondered if Romilda could hear her heart beating and she stood shaking with rage. Amycus looked mad, his eyes wide and crazed as they darted from one student to the next. He marched back to the front of the class and stared at his black board, his breaths coming fast and heavy, filling the silence of the room. Slowly, he calmed himself and turned back to his students with an expression that made Ginny's blood run cold.

"They _are_ only beasts." He muttered, once again prowling the edges of the classroom, slower this time, staring each student down as he passed them. Ginny set her jaw as he approached and made herself stare directly into his cold, pale eyes. He paced the room a second time, stopping once again in front of Luna.

With a swift movement, he knocked the stool in front of Luna to the ground, ignoring the motionless animal that now lay at his feet. Before Ginny could react, Amycus grabbed Luna by the hair at the base of her skull and wrenched her forward; throwing her across the room so she stumbled to the floor at the mouth of the horseshoe between Romilda and Christian.

"CONJUCTUS!" Ginny shouted as she leapt forward, her wand aimed at the back of Amycus' head. Immediately, the teacher's wand dropped to the floor as he bent over double, clutching his face and howling in pain. Ginny and the others ran forward to positioned themselves in front of Luna, wands at the ready as Amycus panted in front of them.

" _You_ ," Ginny threatened, her voice low and steady "will never touch her again." Amycus' head shot up, his bloodshot eyes crazed and surrounded by reddened skin, as if someone had tried to scratch them out of their sockets. He stared at the space just to the right of Ginny's head just long enough for her to realize her spell had blinded him before he turned and fled, arms stretched out in front of him absurdly.

The room was quiet for a moment as Ginny knelt next to Luna and began to wipe the tear stains from her cheeks. Her anger faded away as the sight of her friend kneeling on the ground, broken.

"You okay Luna?" Ginny asked softly, running her fingers over the back of her head and neck. Luna gave a small nod and turned her large eyes to Ginny.

"Okay, come on, let's get you out of here before he finds Alecto or Snape." Ginny said, putting her arm around Luna. Curtis Bradley appeared on Luna's other side to help her to her feet.

At the mention of Amycus returning with reinforcements, the rest of the students immediately began gathering their things. Romilda passed Ginny her bag as Colin picked up Luna's. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws alike gathered around the door to the classroom, but instead of leaving, they parted to form a direct path for Ginny, who was not yet willing to release her protective hold on Luna as the pair approached the door.

"Wait." Curtis said, standing nearest to them. "He didn't see who cast the spell. We're all going down for this." At first Ginny thought he was going to sell her out, but as she looked at his face, etched with anger, she understood.

"We stand together. Any one of us would have cast that spell if Ginny hadn't beaten us to it." Curtis went on, and the others nodded in agreement. Satisfied, he opened the door for the girls and stepped aside, nodding his head to Ginny as they passed.

* * *

 **A/N** : I had Ginny use the Conjuctivitus Curse that Krum used on his dragon during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Game

Ginny, Luna and Colin spent the last hour of what should have been Dark Arts class in the Room of Requirement, which had transformed into a bright meadow, not unlike Firenze's classroom seven floors below. They decided to wait until the end of break before Ginny and Colin walked Luna to Charms, and then made their way outside onto the grounds.

"It was a lot warmer in the Room of Requirement" Colin muttered, crossing his arms for lack of a cloak.

"The fresh air is good for you, it's not even that cold." Ginny responded, though she kept her hands deep in her pockets. Colin quickened his pace just long enough to catch up to her and thread his arm around hers in an effort to share warmth.

"Can we at least go see Hagrid?" He pleaded, steering her towards the cabin across the grounds. Ginny relented and let herself be led through the crisp air towards the familiar little house. As they approached, Ginny noticed a small bonfire had been lit on the other side of it, and a handful of students were gathered around.

"He's teaching a class" Ginny said, turning to walk back the way they had come.

"So? He won't mind, come on" Colin pleaded. Ginny was ready to give in until she recognized the two figures nearest to them. Seamus and Neville were standing with their backs to the school, but there was no mistaking them.

"You stay, I'm going to walk around the lake." Ginny said offhand, extracting her arm from Colin's grasp and turning away. She was had gone gotten twenty yards before Colin caught up to her long strides.

"He's sorry Ginny, I know he is. He just can't tell you because you won't let him." Colin pleaded. Ginny slowed only slightly so Colin could catch his breath.

"Can we talk about something else?" She said, trying to brush it off.

"Ethan was next to me in Dark Arts, he said nobody could hear what you actually said when you were shouting last night. They think you and I had a row." Colin replied stubbornly. "So you know, nobody knows Ron's running around London with Harry instead of sick in bed." Ginny stopped to glare at Colin, but he met her gaze and didn't back down. Eventually Ginny gave in and continued walking until they reached the lake.

"I just don't want to talk about it right now, okay? It's not just Neville I'm mad at, and I'm sorry he's getting the brunt of it…" Ginny said after a long pause.

"But you need to be mad. I know." Colin finished for her. Ginny sighed and felt Colin's arm snake back through hers as they gave a wide birth to the Security Wizard standing just out of range of the Womping Willow.

"How are you and Sean?" Ginny asked after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"We're good, but it's hard dating someone from another house" Colin replied as he watched a flock of birds take flight from the shore.

"Especially when you have to keep it a secret" Ginny said with understanding. "We'll think of something so you can spend more time together."

"Oh don't worry, we have a plan." Colin said mischievously. "We're going to land you in detention for the first Hogsmead visit so we can go together. Maybe sneak into the shrieking shack…" Ginny gave him a playful shove that nearly knocked both of them off balance.

"Or we just invite Sean and Luna to go with us and Luna and I can ignore you two completely. We're too cool for you anyways." Ginny suggested as she braced herself for retaliation.

* * *

Ginny wasn't sure if Colin agreed to her suggested that they eat lunch early in an effort to keep the peace, or because his nose was as numb as hers. They managed to finish eating and leave the great hall before the seventh years had come in from the grounds, so they had lots of time to dawdle on their way to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Did you see that Security Wizard next to Gregory the Smarmy?" Ginny asked as they descended to fourth floor on their way to the Dungeons half an hour later.

"Must be guarding the secret passageway, I saw one by the One Eyed Witch on the way to Dark Arts too." Colin replied. "Trying to make it hard for us to sneak out I suppose."

Professor Slughorn greeted Ginny with his usual enthusiasm, instructing her to take a desk at the front of the room as they arrived. Colin, who was used to being ignored by Slughorn, smirked and took the place next to her.

"Now then, it seems to me that you Gryffindor students have had quite the eventful morning!" Slughorn chided the class. Ginny could hear a few of her classmates shuffle their feet and mumble behind her.

"No no, I don't want to hear details, I'm afraid I may become guilty by association." He continued with a wink. "I have, unfortunately, been tasked with informing you all that you are to proceed directly to your Dark Arts classroom at the end of this period. It seems we have a need to double stack detentions our first week of class!" Slughorn said, holding up his hand to stem the protests of his students.

"This is not my decision; I am simply passing on the message. Now, if you'll all gather around the three cauldrons at the front of the room, we'll begin."

* * *

Colin and Ginny had planned on nipping into the kitchens on their way to detention to smuggle food up to the third floor, but Professor Snape was waiting to escort them upstairs after potions. Ginny did her best to ignore the Headmaster as he ushered them past the smell of roast coming from the great hall.

"Enjoy." Snape said with a cruel smile as he left them at the door to the Dark Arts classroom. Ginny led the others inside and they joined the Ravenclaws who were eyeing the two Carrows wearily.

"Everyone gather around" Amber Noel whispered, and the others formed a tight circle around her. Demelza was bobbing her index finger up and down, counting heads.

"Seventeen, including us." she said under her breath as Amber pulled the stopper from the bottle of Felix Felicis she had won in potions. With a flick of her wand, Amber pulled the potion out, so it looked like a snitch floating in mid-air. With another flick, she split the potion into seventeen miniature bubbles.

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, glancing over her shoulder. The Carrows were still talking privately at the far end of the room.

"We cheated. Demelza threw her potion so we could both work on mine." Amber admitted hurriedly. She flicked her wand one last time and every student instinctively opened their mouths as a bubble of liquid luck soared towards them.

It wasn't her usual stubborn determination Ginny felt, but a calm confidence that they could take whatever was in store for them. Almost as one, the students turned to face the front of the room, waiting patiently for the teachers to notice them. By keeping the silence and not shuffling, the Carrows continued their silent conversation and let time pass unchecked for a full ten minutes before Alecto finally turned to them.

"Leave all your things here and follow me." She said calmly, looking pleased that the students seemed to have learned their place. Ginny and the others did as they were told at a measured pace and followed Alecto out of the room, with Amycus bringing up the rear.

Alecto managed to take two different wrong turns as she led them through the castle, but she finally found the large empty classroom she had been searching for. Students filled in and didn't flinch as the door slammed behind them. There was a loud click as Amycus locked them in.

"Your wands, in the chest." Alecto instructed, pointing to an open chest on what had once been a teacher's desk. Ginny and the other silently approached the desk, in perfect alphabetical order, and surrendered their only defense against the Death Eaters. Had Ginny been watching this without taking the liquid luck, she would have thought them all mad.

But Ginny knew she was doing right by the look of sheer disappointment of Amycus' face. His eyes were still bloodshot and she knew with absolute certainty he had been looking forward to using the Cruciatus Curse on any student who resisted. A half hour had already passed since they took the potion, and Ginny wasn't sure how long they could put off the inevitable, or how long their luck would last.

"Line up on the other side of the classroom." Alecto instructed them as she rapped the top of the chest with her wand, locking it. Students moved to the far wall and Ginny bent her knees slightly in anticipation.

Alecto's wand cut across the room, and for a moment, Ginny saw the air shimmer between the teachers and their students. Ginny understood immediately that under no circumstances was she to attempt to cross the center of the room.

The air felt thick and tense as Amycus stepped out of the shadows and stood within inches of the imaginary line. He raised his wand and pointed it directly at Luna's face on the other side of the room, his wheezing breaths were the only sound to be heard.

"CONJUCTUS!" He screamed, his curse just missed Luna's head as she ducked a fraction of a second before Amycus casted his spell. Furious, he pointed his wand at Ethan Gerard, who jumped aside just in time as well.

Alecto began firing hexes as well, and all of a sudden all hell broke loose. Students started running in all directions as spells whizzed past their heads and singed the hems of their robes. The scene reminded Ginny of some perverse version of a children's game.

To stop the Carrows from catching on, students began crying out in pain if a spell got too close, but never stayed down a moment too long. When Ginny stopped for a breath behind a stack of chairs, she saw the sickening looks of elation on Amycus and Alecto's faces.

After half an hour, the frenzy was interrupted by a knock of the door. Alecto giggled with anticipation as Amycus opened the door and lead half a dozen Slytherin sixth and seventh years into the room.

"Ah, yes, you've come for the extra credit assignment I see?" Amycus said as he greeted his NEWT students. Crabbe and Goyle guffawed and fingered their wands in anticipation.

"I suppose they can't keep this up for as long as they expect us to." Colin muttered under her breath. Ginny glanced around the room at her classmates – how long could they keep running?

"Let's give our seventh years first crack, shall we?" Amycus said as he settled into a chair behind the desk. "Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle and Mr. Nott, you have 30 minutes to impress us. The rest of you, pay attention."

The seventh years took their places and readied their wands as their fellows sat around a table near the door, pulling cakes and sweets out they had brought from the great hall.

"Suppose they didn't quite have enough time to stuff their faces at dinner." Ginny muttered as she tried to ignore the hunger pains in her stomach. Her early lunch with Colin seemed so long ago now.

"What was that Weasley?" Nott shouted from across the room. Ginny looked up just in time to dodge the jet of blue light he fired at her. Having barely had enough time to catch their breath, the frenzy began again. Amycus and Alecto were shouting encouragement at their champions as the sixth years cheered as boo'd their housemates' spell casting.

Ginny was starting to feel a rising panic in her chest as around her, students were being caught by the odd stunning spell or stinging jinx. She barely missed a few herself as she dived under a desk on the side of the room, only to have it burst into flames as she crawled out from under it.

"Cruccio!" Goyle shouted from the center of the room. Everyone froze and Amber Noel's screams pierced the air. Ginny would have been sick if she had had anything in her stomach.

Now certain their luck had run out, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students were in a panic. They tried to repeat the same zig-zagging and fake out that had kept them safe earlier, but without Felix they weren't nearly as effective.

Mercy came only when the seventh years had finished their half hour of play and were given criticism and praise for their spell work. The lull didn't last long though, and even though the sixth years were marginally less skilled when their turn came, Ginny and the others were exhausted.

Finally, Alecto stood and raised her wand, sweeping it over her prey.

"Finite Incartatum!" She said as if she were playing the part of a benevolent ruler. Immediately, Colin's legs stopped flailing, Luna was released from her body bind and Ginny's face cleared of Nott's attempt at a bat-bogey hex.

"Nearly seven then, Ravenclaws, follow me to collect your things." Alecto instructed, summoning half the wands from the locked chest. Luna and the others looked back guiltily, but the Gryffindors pushed them gently towards the door.

Silence followed as Ginny and the others took refuge in a corner, glancing at the door every few seconds as they awaiting the Hufflepuff students. Ginny took Colin's hand and held it tight to stop him from chewing his nails until they bled. Demelza was shaking so uncontrollably that Jack Slopper could barely keep his arms around her.

Minutes ticked by and Ginny closed her eyes, praying that Alecto had gotten lost again. It wasn't long though before the door creaked open and Ginny witnessed the looks of horror and fear as the Hufflepuff students arrived.

"Wands in the chest." Alecto repeated, opening the coffer once again. Luna and the others must have told them to follow the instructions, because the Hufflepuffs did as they were told.

"Everyone line up against the back wall." Alecto instructed. The Hufflepuffs, well fed and still full of energy, hurried to the group of Gryffindors and began helping them to their feet.

"Sweet." Alecto said with a fake smile. "Now then students, my brother and I will show you where you went wrong with the last group. Watch closely now." She began, flourishing her wand to replace the barrier between them and their victims.

As jets of light began shooting across the room once more, a disorganized chaos erupted. Hufflepuffs were trying to distract the teachers from the others, but lacked the skills that had come from taking a luck potion.

"No, don't!" Ginny yelled as Zacharias Smith ran straight at the Carrows, but he had already hit the barrier. It was like watching someone fall off a building, but sideways. He slammed into the wall behind Colin and Ethan before sliding to the ground.

Alecto began laughing like a maniac at the sight of Zacharias' still form being dragged under a pile of desks to join Demelza. It continued for what felt like hours, until finally the sixth years had had their fill of hexing the few students who were still able to be chased.

Alecto lead the group back to the Dark Arts room where they gathered their things, although several were barely able to lift their bags, let alone cauldrons. Zacharias' fellow chasers half carried him up to the hospital wing after picking up their wands, followed by Romilda and Jack supporting Demelza.

Nobody spoke as the rest of the Hufflepuffs split at the main staircases, though Sean seemed to be biting back tears as he watched Ginny helped Colin limp up the steps. Ginny tried her best to ignore the twinge of guilt she felt as they made their way back to Gryffindor tower.

Ginny half shut her eyes as the portrait hole opened. After spending hour in the darkened classroom and corridors, the common room seemed too bright. Immediately, hands reached out to steady the sixth years and lead them to couches and arm chairs.

"You okay?" Neville asked from somewhere nearby. Ginny nodded and opened her eyes just wide enough to see him crouched next to her. Colin was lying on a couch with his leg being inspected by Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. All around them were bowls of bandages soaking in liquid and odd looking plants.

"I overheard Crabb and Goyle talking about their special project during lunch and told Ernie Macmillan about it during Herbology. Professor Sprout helped us pick out the best plants to use." Neville explained. Ginny felt him place one of the bandages on a burn on her forearm, cooling it instantly.

"I told Padma at dinner" Parvati said before Ginny could ask. If Padma knew, she'd take care of the Ravenclaws just the same.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean-" Neville began, but Ginny put up her had to stop him.

"It's okay Neville. The world's upside down right now, I took it out on you too." She said, closing her eyes as Neville applied a salve to her forehead to ease the throbbing behind her eyes.

"You've more than made up for it tonight, I really don't know if we'd be able to do all this without you." Ginny said, and then paused for a moment before continuing.

"You're a good friend Neville. And you have more friends here than you think."


	8. Chapter 8 - Small Changes

When Ginny sat with Luna at breakfast the next morning, the Ravenclaws greeted her with welcoming smiles. As she looked around she saw that not only was Colin eating with Sean, but Michael Corner was sitting across from Neville, and Parvati and Lavender were on either side of Padma.

"Professor Snape looks upset." Luna said, looking up at the head table. Ginny glanced up and saw that Snape's face was ruddy, as if he'd just been shouting at someone. Could it be a coincidence that the Carrows, instead of looking proud of the previous night's escapades, were staring sullenly into their plates?

"He can't have been upset about what the Carrows did, didn't he escort the Gryffindors from Potions himself?" Curtis Bradley asked, having taken a place next to Ginny.

"Maybe they went too far? Demelza never came back from the hospital wing last night and she wasn't half as bad as Zacharias." Ginny replied as she went back to her breakfast.

"We should have stayed." Curtis said, looking ashamed of himself.

"Don't be stupid." Ginny snapped "Nobody was able to help anybody in there. You would have just been more targets." Curtis looked insulted for a moment and opened his mouth to argue.

"Bravery in impossible situations is both admirable and foolish." Luna said before he could get a word out. Curtis looked thoughtful for a moment, and then returned to his breakfast.

"Mind saying that to Harry the next time you see him?" Ginny said to Luna under her breath as she lifted a goblet to her lips.

"I've tried." Luna sighed "Gryffindors don't like to hear that bravery can be foolish." Ginny coughed her pumpkin juice back up as Curtis patted her on the back with a puzzled look.

* * *

Professor McGonagall made no comment when Demelza slid into her seat half an hour after class had begun. She was still pale, but at least she seemed calmer and had stopped shaking.

Transfiguration was unusually light that day, McGonagall even smiled at Luna's outlandish questions, which she normally would have ignored. Class ended with Ginny earning twenty points for "showing true understanding of the theories behind the Transfiguration of living beings."

Ginny almost wished she could have dropped Arithmancy and joined Luna in History of Magic, and had to remind herself that her education was more important than watching Luna fluster Professor Binns. The two said their goodbyes and Ginny watched her friend skip down the hallway out of sight, her classmates giving her a wide birth.

When she entered the great hall for lunch, Ginny found Colin chattering non-stop at Neville, who was grinning in the seat next to him.

"Did he tell you Ginny?" Colin demanded. He looked like he'd been let in on some great secret and was anxious to share. Ginny sat across from Sean, who was trying not to laugh.

"Course he did, he told all of us while you were in the bathroom on the train." Ginny answered without missing a beat. She had to force a straight face as Colin gasped dramatically and turned to Sean.

"You said you had no idea!" Colin said, rounding on his boyfriend. "You _lied_ to me! And I _believed_ you!" Ginny felt Sean kick her under the table. She grinned and took a bite of her sandwich.

"Honestly I don't know how you didn't figure it out on your own." She continued, shifting her legs too quick for Sean this time. "Pass the mustard, would you?"

"How was I supposed to guess that? When was any of this ever even discussed, or even _mentioned_?" Colin said in disbelief. "I can't believe no one told me, it's my class he's assisting in!"

Ginny cocked her head questionably to Neville, who was shaking his head and trying to keep out of range of Colin's flailing arms.

"What's he on about now?" Ginny asked once she'd finished chewing.

"Professor Sprout asked me to assist her with her sixth year class. She fixed my schedule so I can help to prepare the lessons and everything." He announced, grinning with pride.

"That's great Neville! I didn't know teachers took on assistants." Ginny said raising her glass of pumpkin juice to him.

"You're all gits." Colin muttered, as the others burst out laughing at his sullen scowl. They were soon joined by Luna and spent the rest of lunch teasing Colin until his mood lifted and he was threatening Neville with various disruptions during class.

The group's mood became progressively less cheery as Ginny, Colin and Sean prepared for another Muggle Studies Class. Ginny hoped that the scene at breakfast meant the Carrows would be a little more hesitant about punishments, but the knot in her stomach remained.

"Just mind your temper, at least for the rest of the week" Neville advised Ginny as she got up to leave. She gave an empty laugh.

"We'll test their limits, like we said, then compare notes at the DA meeting on Friday." He pressed.

"Fine, you've got Dark Arts next, so we'll behave if you behave." Ginny called over her shoulder as Colin and Sean followed her out.

* * *

It wasn't long before Ginny gave in to the constant requests from her fellow Gryffindors and set up Quidditch trials for the following weekend. This meant that between homework, classes, DA meeting plans, and reviewing last year's playbook, she barely had a moment to herself. Not that she didn't appreciate being busy, it was a pleasant change from her make-work projects over the summer, but it also made her long for the lazy afternoons she had shared with Harry in the spring.

"Fridays are officially the best day of the week." Sean announced as he dropped his bag in the corner of the Room of Requirement before joining the others in setting out pillows.

"Of course it is, we have double Herbology together and Neville always pairs us up" Colin said bounding over to kiss him.

A blush crept up Sean's cheeks as he glanced at the others. "Well yeah, but also, I get to sleep in and don't have a single class with the Carrows." Colin smiled his goofy grin and went back to work setting up.

Neville shrugged as if it was nothing, but Ginny knew he was doing it for the same reason she would have. McGonagall was right, even if Ginny couldn't help but feel a small twinge of jealousy now and then, it was good to see love in the midst of the war.

"How was the old hag today Luna?" Sean asked as Luna pulled books from a nearby shelf and stacked them in his arms.

"Oh, about the same. That Kevin Bletchley and the others who volunteered for detention seem to like her, but the rest of the class doesn't" Luna mused.

"Did she hurt anyone today?" Ginny asked.

"Curtis Bradley got his hand burned for shouting a curse word at her, and she slapped Tabitha Bainbridge when she asked a question." Luna answered after thinking for a moment. Ginny, Colin and Sean froze and stared at her in disbelief.

"Who's Tabitha Bainbridge?" Neville asked. He and Luna alone continued working, blind to the looks the others were exchanging.

"She's in Slytherin." Luna said simply. Ginny though Neville was going to fall off the stool he was balancing on, but he caught himself in time and turned to stare at Luna in disbelief.

"She slapped a Slytherin? Why?" Neville asked once he had regained his balance.

"I told you, she asked a question. She asked how a witch or wizard could be born to two muggle parents." Luna shrugged.

"She was pretty quiet in Dark Arts on Tuesday too, come to think of it. Bletchley, Vaisey and Harper were being big enough prats to make up for it though." Sean said after thinking back.

Ginny wasn't quite sure what to make of Tabitha, but she didn't have time to fully process what Luna and Sean had said, as DA members had started to file into the room. She hadn't noticed it when everyone had been scattered amongst the rest of the students, but now Ginny realized that many of them were showing cuts and bruises, and Curtis was not the only member sporting a bandaged hand. Judging by his bloodstained robes, Michael Corner had managed to bloody his nose again.

"Right, Tuesday we covered shield charms and most of you did pretty well." Ginny began as the noise in the room died away almost instantly.

"But a disarming spell is much easier to block than a stunning spell, which is also a decent attack. Those of you were have tried stunning before should pair up with a new student and give their shield charms a real test. Make sure you have cushions behind you just in case your spell rebounds." Ginny finished, turning to Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein, who groaned as the rest of the students began to pair off.

"If you prats think you're too good for this, I'd be happy to test your dueling skills myself." Ginny said, tapping her wand threateningly. The two grumbled, but moved on to pair up with Dennis and Jimmy while Ginny joined Neville and Luna patrolling the room.

"You're holding your wand like you're in charms class" Ginny could hear Luna say to Lavender Brown nearby. "Try and keep a firmer grip a little further up, that's better!" Ginny smiled to herself as she watched Lavender break through her partner's shield charm on the next try and Luna clapped gleefully.

By the time Neville blew his whistle at eight o'clock, half of the new students had done so well with their shield charm that Ginny re-partnered them to begin stunning. The excitement in the room seemed to double as everyone helped clean up and gathered around the large wooden wireless.

The scene reminded Ginny of Christmas, everyone sitting on pillows or perched on the arm of a chair to listen to Celestina Warbeck. The real difference was not the colour of anyone's hair or the lack of the smell of Christmas baking, but the quiet apprehension of what they were about to hear. Colin and Ernie both tried chatting with those around them, but their voices trailed off quickly and they turned back to the wireless.

Finally the clock's hands showed it was time, and Ginny tapped the top of the wireless with her wand and gave the password.

"Good Evening!" Lee Jordan's familiar voice once again rang out. "And welcome back to Potterwatch! We're back as promised, so it looked like nobody's sold us out yet. Thank you all for tuning in, I'm your host, River!" The room seemed to take a collective breath and relax.

"Our first announcement might save your life, so listen up. Sources tell us that there has been a Taboo place on You-Know-Who's name, presumably in an effort to catch supporters of the Order of the Phoenix. So now you've got real reason to fear the name itself." A few students started muttering amongst themselves looking confused.

"Shut it!" Ginny snapped glaring at them. "He just explained it but nobody could hear. If you have questions, we'll answer them after."

"… Wizards calling themselves Snatchers have been spotted across the country, collecting bounties for muggle borns and students who have not reported to Hogwarts." Lee continued. "While we do not believe they are particularly dangerous on their own, they have been travelling in groups, so we remind our listeners to do the same." An image popped into Ginny's mind of rat-like wizards patrolling Diagon Alley and ripping children from their mother's grasp.

"That's all we have today in the way of concrete information, and we urge listeners to use caution and common sense out there. We don't have an update on Harry Potter for you today, but if Harry or anyone else in hiding is listening, I hope you know we're all with you. I'd like to end today's broadcast by thanking everyone who has opened their homes to protect the many witches and wizards who are seeking refuge. We all have friends out there and hope someone is looking out for them, wherever they are." A silence fell over the room as Ginny chewed at the inside of her lip, never taking her eyes off the wireless.

"Thank you for joining us on Potterwatch, we'll be back Wedsnesay morning at 9:23 using the password 'Gideon.' Until then, this is River, stay safe and stay together." Lee finished as static drowned out his voice. Neville leaned forward to turn off the wireless as students began speaking all at once.

"No news has to be good news, right?" Colin said from behind Ginny's armchair, resting his hand on her shoulder. Ginny reached up and squeezed it gently in gratitude.

"You're probably right." She replied before standing up to help Neville sort through the questions the others were shouting.

It took twenty minutes to sort through what everyone had to say about Potterwatch, partly because Ernie McMillan couldn't resist re-stating his points of view each time somebody else finished talking. Ginny finally had to throw a few choice words his way and suggested he could stick his opinions somewhere very specific before he would let her and Neville introduce their next spell.

Between the delayed start, everyone being distracted by Potterwatch and Ginny's next two outbursts at a group of Seventh years, nobody noticed that nine o'clock had come and gone until Neville blew his whistle shrilly in Parvati Patil's ear.

"Small groups! Anyone younger that fifth year, pair up with older students in your house!" Ginny yelled as she blocked the crowd from running out into the hall all at once. This only seemed to cause more chaos and the younger students split from their friends and clung to OWL and NEWT students.

Ginny began letting each group out the door one at a time, closing it firmly after each one so the room could reposition the exit somewhere else in the castle. Finally it was just Colin, Sean and a pair of Hufflepuff third years that seemed to follow Sean like puppies during meetings.

"We'll follow you out, don't run, and if someone catches you-" Colin said checking the clock.

"Tell them I was helping them with their Transfiguration and we fell asleep, I know." Sean finished for him, pushing his third years ahead. Ginny opened the door and followed the others out, checking over her shoulder as they started down a corridor.

"Perfect, I think we're near the dungeons." She muttered, trying to walk as quietly as she could. She could barely make out the three shapes walking twenty feet ahead of them and was thankful they had enough sense not to light their wands.

Ginny was still getting her bearings as they approached the corridor where she and Colin would turn right and leave the Hufflepuffs to continue onto their own dormitory when she heard heavy footsteps nearby. All five of them froze and pushed themselves against the walls on either side of the corridor Colin and Ginny had been about to turn down.

Ginny tried to slow her breathing as the footsteps grew louder, glancing sideways at Colin, whose arm was pinned awkwardly behind her back. He wasn't looking at her though; his eyes were fixed on Sean and the others across the gap. There were no classrooms or secret passageways nearby to sneak into, and the nearest tapestry they could have hoped to hide behind was too far away.

One of the Hufflepuffs stumbled while trying to creep away.

"Who's there?" A voice called out as the students froze, the footsteps stopped only a few feet away. Ginny closed her eyes and willed the Security Wizard to turn back, to assume it was a student's pet rat, or to go for reinforcements, she didn't care.

The footsteps started again, slower this time, but definitely getting closer. Ginny could tell by the red of her eyelids that he had his wand lit in front of him as he approached the corner. She reached into her pocket and pushed past the decoy detectors, her fingertips brushing a marble sized glass ball of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder.

Ginny's hand shot out of her pocket, empty, as Colin pushed her forwards suddenly, pinning her against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. Ginny's shoulders slammed into the stone painfully and her eyes shot open. Before she could cry out, Colin covered her mouth with his. One of his soft hands was tangled in her hair, the other on her lower back, keeping their bodies pressed against each other as he kissed her.


	9. Chapter 9 - Quidditch

"Oi!" Ginny and Colin broke apart as the Security Wizard shouted, his lit wand shining in their faces. Ginny's heart, which had stopped beating entirely moments before, was racing in her chest once again. Colin began disentangling his limbs from hers as Ginny shielded her eyes from the sudden brightness.

"What do you think you're doing? It's nearly an hour past curfew!" The Security Wizard demanded, clearly as shocked as she was. Ginny quickly ducked behind Colin's shoulder to hide her face and regain composure.

"Is it?" Colin asked, holding up his watch and squinting at it. "Must have lost track of the time," Ginny saw him give the man a sly smile as he winked. The Security Wizard lowered his wand, looking flustered and a little embarrassed. Ginny chanced a glance across the corridor and breathed a sigh of relief. Sean and the others were nowhere in sight.

"Just get back to your dorms, and don't let me catch you again." He said, running his hand across his forehead in exasperation. Colin grabbed Ginny by the hand and they both took off running. Neither of them dared to slow down until they reached the portrait hole, clutching stitches in their sides.

"Fillius!" Ginny panted before climbing into the common room.

"Took you long enough!" Seamus hollered from across the room as the two collapsed into a pair of chairs in the corner. "Take a detour or two?"

"Suck an egg Seamus!" Ginny called back as she leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath and slow her heart.

"I had a plan you know" she said quietly to Colin.

"Well it's not my fault your _'I have a plan'_ face looks a lot like your _'resigned to die'_ face." He whispered back to her. "And I'm willing to bet that your plan would have been more of an explosive distraction?"

Instead of answering him, Ginny levitated a table and dropped it in front of them, then began pulling out her Charms homework. Colin followed her lead and the pair was silent for a few moments. Ginny's back was stinging from colliding with the stone wall and there was a familiar ache in her gut she was trying to ignore.

"Could you stop smirking?" she shot at Colin, reaching across the table to reclaim the quills he'd nicked from her throughout the week. "I ought to hex you, you and Sean promised there'd be no snogging." She muttered under her breath.

"Oh come on Ginny, you know that wasn't what that was. I wouldn't have done it if I'd thought there was any other way of getting out of there without raising alarm." Colin argued back. "And you don't have anything to feel guilty about, I'm the one who kissed you, and I'd have kissed Trelawney if it meant getting out of there."

Ginny snorted at the mental image that had crept into her head uninvited. Colin smiled and reached over to take one of her quills back, clearly pleased with himself.

"You're a rubbish kisser by the way." Ginny muttered, sneaking a sideways glance at her best friend in time to see his smile widen.

The two worked in relative silence, Ginny quizzing Colin periodically to keep him focused. Finally the common room had mostly emptied out and they cleared away their homework, moving to take over their favourite couch.

It was nearly two in the morning when Ginny's eyelids had become too heavy to keep open and they made their way to their dormitories. Finally in her own bed, Ginny lay awake, staring at the top of her four poster bed.

The feeling just below her stomach was not new, and if she was being honest, it had been there since Dumbledore's funeral months ago. It was worse now though, like it had been when she passed Ron's bedroom on her Birthday, and when she'd ridden Sirius's bike for the first time without falling over, and when she boarded the Hogwarts Express alone.

Ginny rolled over and buried herself in her blankets, forcing herself to visualize Quidditch plays and plan tryouts, but the closer she got to falling asleep, the more Harry kept flying through her mind, daring her to chase him.

* * *

As slow as the first week of term had gone, the second week seemed to fly by. The DA members had pushed the Carrow's limits and had learned what they could get away with during Muggle Studies and Dark Arts. Even the one class had earned a group detention had made it through relatively unscathed.

Quidditch tryouts were suddenly upon Gryffindor House and Ginny found herself standing in the middle of the pitch, staring down a line of her team-mates and a handful of hopeful additions. The day promised to be clear, but the sun had barely risen high enough over the Forbidden Forrest to burn off the morning dew and chill. Despite the early hour, nearly everyone was alert as they clutched their brooms and looked expectantly at their Captain.

"All here? Right then, even if all last year's players make the team again, we're still short a Keeper and at least one Chaser and possibly a Seeker, so you lot have a decent shot at a place on the team." Ginny said as she surveyed the group. Last year's team, as well as Christian Alexander, Andrew Kirke, Jack Sloper and Dennis had all showed up to try out, along with two other fifth years and a fourth year Ginny couldn't name.

"When I call out a position, I want you to raise your hand if you'll be trying for– "

"What if we want to try out for more than one position?" Jack interrupted her. Ginny closed her eyes for a moment and begged patience. When she opened them, Jack was staring at her impatiently.

"… If you'll be trying out for that position." She continued firmly. "You can try out for however many position you like. Some players may end up changing positions for a particular game if a team-mate is injured, so I'd like to see whatever skills you have to show me." She finished.

"Yeah, or if someone is murdered by the Captain." Jimmy muttered to Dennis through the corner of his mouth.

"Beaters first then!" Ginny called as she watched Jimmy Peakes and Richie Coote raise their hands in the air. They were joined by Jack and Andrew. Ginny nodded and smiled to herself. Even if the rest of tryouts were a bust, seeing Jimmy and Richie cream Jack and Andrew for a third year in a row would make her day.

"Chasers?" Demelza raised her hand stubbornly, followed by Christian Anderson, the fifth and fourth year boys, and Jack and Andrew. Ginny counted the hands in the air and made notes on a sheet of parchment.

"Keepers..." Ginny expected it this time. Jack and Andrew's hands were joined by the fourth year boy and fifth year girl with short dirty blond hair. Ginny chewed her lip and tried to keep her face neutral as she called the last position.

"Seekers." Dennis Creevey and Christian managed to get their hands in the air first, and Ginny barely bothered glancing in Jack and Andrew's direction before finishing her notes. Ginny took a moment to stare at the numbers, cursing her classmates for complicating what had been some very well thought out tryout drills.

"Everyone in the air flying laps, Beaters take your bats with you. I want to see what kind of speed you can coax out of those brooms" Ginny called out.

"Can we knock them _off_ their brooms?" Jimmy grumbled just quiet enough for Ginny to pretend she hadn't heard. Eleven figures shot into the air and began racing towards the far goalposts.

Ginny watched the flashes of red race each other back and forth across the pitch. After only a few moments, competitiveness had won over and nobody was paying her any attention. Surprisingly, Dennis was leading the pack. Ginny suspected Jimmy had spent some time over the summer helping him with his flying and she had to admit he had improved a lot. Much more than Jack and Andrew anyways, who seemed to be under the impression that if they tried out for all the positions they were bound to be better than _someone_.

Ginny mounted her broom and kicked open the ball's case, snatching the Quaffle as soon as the bludgers and snitch had soared off. She pushed off from the ground and felt the cold air whipping her long braid off her shoulder as she sped towards the others.

"Balls in play!" She yelled as she came within earshot, throwing the quaffle directly at the fourth year who was trying out for Keeper and Chaser. He ducked so quickly Ginny thought he had fallen off his broom, though not before Demelza had intercepted and grabbed the Quaffle herself.

Ginny soared up and watched as chaos ensued below. Jack had accidentally hit the quaffle towards Andrew with his beater's bat, which gave Jimmy the opening to send a real bludger straight into Jack's stomach.

Dennis had flown up and was nearly level with Ginny, flying in figure eights over the rest of the players. Twenty feet below, Christian had caught the quaffle Demelza had passed his way and was racing towards the nearest set of goalposts, which was being guarded by the fifth year girl. She dove for the save only a moment too soon and Christian was able to fake her out and score.

After twenty minutes, Ginny blew her whistle and flew down to join the others, who had formed a circle in the center of the pitch.

"That was a good start, better than I expected for sure." Ginny said as she surveyed the group.

"Well what were you expecting exactly?" Jack spat from directly across from her.

"I was expecting a team that didn't question their Captain's methods for running tryouts." She shot back before continuing as if nothing had happened. "I have a decent idea of what positions everyone is most comfortable with, so we're going to play a scrimmage on rotation." She pulled out the slip of parchment and studied it a moment.

"Kirke and Peakes, you start as beaters, Creevey as Seeker, Sloper and…" Ginny looked at the girl with the short hair.

"Fiona Belmont" she answered, squaring her shoulders.

"Sloper and Belmont as Keepers on opposite ends of the pitch." Ginny said, nodding to the girl. "The rest of you will be chasers to start, so split yourselves up into two teams. When I blow the whistle, I'll call out the new positions." Ginny finished as everyone started shifting sides of the circle. Ginny shot back up and watched as the game began.

As usual, a small crowd of onlookers had gathered in the stands to get their first taste of the Quidditch season. A bright pink blob far below told her that Colin had brought Arnold out with him, probably smuggled out of the dorm by Romilda or Amber.

It only took half an hour for the fifth year boy to ask for a break in play. Ginny arched an eyebrow while she looked him up and down. When he repeated himself, she had to accept that he wasn't kidding before dismissing him from tryouts.

"Kirke! You're still playing Seeker! You can't block the quaffle, that's the Keeper's job!" She shouted as she flew across the pitch.

"Well he's rubbish!" Andrew shot back, the Quaffle still in his hands.

"That's my job to decide, not yours! It's tryouts, if he's rubbish that's better for you, you git!" Ginny said as she snatched the quaffle out of his grasp and passed it to Dennis, who was standing in for a Chaser. Dennis barely grabbed the ball in time, his eyes were focused on something just beyond the goal posts.

"You know Kirke, you might have managed to catch the snitch if you hadn't been so busy trying to impress me." Ginny said, unable to suppress a grin as she nodded towards the snitch twenty feet away. Andrew swore and raced after it, but it was too late.

Finally, Ginny blew her whistle a final time and landed in front of the Gryffindor stands a few seats down from Colin and Sean, who both gave their brothers thumbs up. The fourth year managed to trip himself up as he landed, nearly knocking the snitch out of Christian's hand as he grabbed him for support. Ginny pursed her lips and took a breath as she waited for everyone to arrive.

"Let's get right to it then. Robins, Peakes and Coote, you all made it back on the team, well done." Ginny began as Demelza exchanged high fives with the boys.

"Alexander, you made a decent Seeker, but you just don't quite have the speed. You had some great moves with the quaffle though. You'll be joining Robins and I as chasers." There was a murmer as Christian joined his team mates, and the rest of the group realized that with Ginny playing chaser, that left the position of seeker open.

"Belmont?" Fiona's eyes widened when Ginny called her name. "Your timing was improving near the end, but it needs to be better. If you want to stay on as keeper you're going to need to work for it." Fiona nodded eagerly and stood next to Demelza.

Jack and Andrew both puffed out their chests expectantly as a look of relief spread over the fourth year's face. He left his place next to Dennis and joined the crowd in the stands.

"Finally, Creevey will be taking the position of Seeker this year. I saw a lot of improvement; I hope we'll be seeing more." Ginny said barely able to contain a smile as Colin jumped in the air in excitement behind her. Dennis grinned and bounded over to the rest of the team.

"That's bull, you're dating his brother!" Jack cried as Andrew kicked at the grass.

"Can it Sloper, my love life has nothing to do with _your_ inability to play a decent game of Quidditch." Ginny retorted as she rolled her eyes.

* * *

The DA meetings were going much smoother than Quidditch try outs had, and soon students were learning spells not only for dueling, but ones that were useful in driving Snape and the Carrows mad.

Luna had shown everyone how to use Permanent Sticking Charms to paste posters onto the walls. Most of the charms weren't as stong as the ones used in Grimmauld Place had been, but they were still a right pain in the arse to remove.

"What are we going to put on the posters?" Lavender brown asked as large sheets of bright white paper appeared nearby. She made a face at Seamus' crude suggestion before looking around the rest of the group for ideas.

"Anything to undermine them." Ginny shrugged as she chewed they end of her quill. Luna had written 'Huggle a Muggle' on one and was covering it in pink hearts.

"What about something about Potterwatch?" Ernie suggested. "Not the passwords of course, but I imagine the name itself would do it. What is it that River finishes his broadcasts with? Stay together?" he continued adding Lee's sign-off to the bottom of his poster. Ginny found herself smiling as she saw one of the third year Hufflepuffs draw a pair of round glasses below a bolt of lightning.

By the time they were done, many of the posters incorporated 'improved' versions of the rules that had been posted on common room bulletin boards earlier in the week. Favourites by far included

Any student found in possession of  
 _The Daily Prophet  
_ will be called a prat

Teachers are banned from giving students  
any information that is not strictly related to  
bringing down _He Who Must Not Be Named_

Any student found to have formed, or belonged to  
 _Dumbledore's Army  
_ Is to be given extra pudding after supper

The students hadn't taken kindly to the reintroduction of many of Umbridge's Educational Decrees, though there were few students or teachers who followed them if they could help it. McGonagall had at least convinced Snape not to include Quidditch teams in the ban of clubs this time around. Fortunately the Slug Club didn't seem to have made the cut.

"Well, I think that's the best one yet!" Neville exclaimed as Michael held up a small banner proudly. There was a murmer of agreement as everyone admired the bold, bright blue letters that spelled out

Dumbledore's Army  
Still Recruiting


	10. Chapter 10 - The Gryffindor's Revenge

"Well done Miss Weasley!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed excitedly as Ginny looked down at her desk. It looked as if someone had painted an exact copy of her textbook onto her left hand, the image shifting slightly as she waved back and forth.

"Come on up front, let's get the full effect" Flitwick said with an encouraging smile. He had made good on his promise to begin teaching the sixth years the Disillusionment Charm at the end of class the Friday before, and Ginny and Luna had been practicing it all week. Despite Flitwick's excitement, Ginny noticed that all of the students were following her with their eyes as she made her way to the front of the class.

Ginny stopped walking, and everyone stared at the place she stood. She swayed to the left, nearly losing her balance and was greeted with odd looks and a few laughs as her classmates cocked their heads in the same direction. Keeping perfectly quiet, she scrunched her face and stuck her tongue out, staring directly at Colin. Nobody reacted. Ginny felt relief that at least she was unrecognizable.

"Everyone close your eyes a moment, let's really put Miss Weasley to the test." Flitwick instructed as the students did as they were told. Professor Flitwick then motioned to Ginny to move to the side of the room, which she managed without making a sound.

"And open! Let's see if you can see Miss Weasley now!" Flitwick said to the class. Some students stared directly at the front of the room where Ginny had been moments before, as if to be sure she had moved, while other glanced around, expecting to see her blurry outline. Soon, everyone was slowly scanning each corner of the room, looking for any imperfections. Ginny was standing as still as she could manage.

"She's there! To the left of the desk!" Demelza shouted triumphantly after a full minute. The rest of the class turned to look where Demelza was pointing, some moving their heads back and forth comically as if to see a change in texture. Ginny was sure that Kevin Bletchley was staring at a blank space of wall next to her, despite the smug look on his face.

The bell rang and Ginny felt a sharp tap of the top of her head as Professor Flitwick reversed the charm.

"Can't have you wandering the halls nearly invisible now, can we?" He said with a wink before Ginny joined Colin in the corridor.

"You were really good!" Colin assured her as they passed Bletchley and a group of his fellow Slytherins. Ginny chewed her lip as they made their way towards the great hall. They had been planning the break in for weeks, going over every detail whenever they had time to spare.

"No teacher would notice you even if you were as visible as I was. Nobody'd be mad enough to break into Snape's office before he was Headmaster, he won't be expecting it." Colin continued despite Ginny's silence. Colin had spent the first half hour of class casting the spell on himself repeatedly, slowly becoming more and more translucent. The best he had managed was making himself look like a very faded chalk drawing someone had forgotten to clean off the wall.

"It's our only chance to get the sword, I don't want to screw it up because we're impatient. If he knows someone is trying to get it, he'll post a guard or worse." Ginny replied. Neville, Luna and Sean were waiting for them at the Gryffindor table as they entered the Great Hall for lunch.

"It's Disillusionment, not invisibility, I don't think you're going to be able to do much better if you want to do this before Christmas." Colin said as he took a seat opposite Sean and Luna.

"Did you Disillusion yourself Ginny?" Luna asked as Ginny sat between Colin and Neville.

"She did, it was brilliant!" Colin said excitedly before Ginny had a chance to open her mouth.

"Luna did this morning too, it looks like all that practice you girls put in paid off." Sean said as he grinned proudly at Luna.

"You did really well too!" Luna replied and returned his smile. Sean rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Yeah, Flitwick was real excited until I came out from behind my desk. Everything from the knees down was completely visible." Sean admitted. Ginny could have kept herself from laughing at the absurd mental image had it not been for Colin snickering next to her.

"Better that than only disillusioning your robes." Neville muttered under his breath.

"You did not!" Ginny gasped, quickly shoving her fist in her mouth and trying to look sympathetic.

"Nah, but Seamus did. Thankfully he didn't do a very good job so you could barely see his underpants." He replied as everyone glanced over at Seamus. He seemed to be having a grand time retelling the story himself to some seventh years at the Ravenclaw table.

"Do you think you can cast the spell well enough to fool Snape?" Ginny asked Luna as the snickering died down.

"I think so, I don't think anybody could see me when I was when I stool perfectly still." Luna replied.

"Alright, I have Quidditch Practice tonight, so tomorrow…" Ginny began, only to be interrupted by Neville.

"Luna can cast the spell on me, I'll be her lookout while you're at practice." Neville said. Ginny looked at Neville for a moment, trying to decide if he was being over protective again, or if he just wanted to get moving as much as she did.

"If we don't make it in tonight, you can try tomorrow." Neville continued "Once we know it's there for sure, we'll set Colin and Sean up with the distraction at dinner while you two go back in."

All of them nodded in agreement as a nervous energy buzzed around them. When Neville noticed that Snape was nearly done eating, Luna waved them a cheery goodbye and left to stand guard over his office.

Ginny and Colin stood up immediately as Snape left the Great Hall and made their way towards his office. They wanted to be close in case they needed to distract him while Luna made her getaway.

There was no need however, by the time they came up to the statue of the Griffin, Snape was already in his office and Luna was suddenly walking next to them, fully visible.

"Got it?" Ginny asked out of the corner of her mouth as they headed towards the Dark Arts classroom. Luna smiled to herself and nodded without saying a word.

* * *

Despite being exhausted after Quidditch practice and practicing the Disillusionment Charm on Colin and Neville until nearly midnight, Ginny lay awake in her bed for hours that night. Every possible thing that could go wrong ran through her head, and she kept getting up to check the pronunciation of some of the trickier spells she and Luna would need to get through the protective charms.

By the time the sun had risen, Ginny had only managed to get a few hours of sleep. She spent the entire day feeling awake and hyper-sensitive of everything around her, yet she seemed separated from the rest of the school by a thick, almost tangible fog.

Finally, Arithmancy class was dismissed and Ginny bolted out the door to the Gryffindor tower, barely hearing Professor Vector assign fourteen inches of parchment on the new numerical chart she had introduced. When got to her dorm she threw her bag onto her bed unceremoniously and emptied her pockets onto the bedspread.

Ginny picked up the Decoy Detonators, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder Capsules, a small package wrapped in brown paper and a handful of each Dungbombs and Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-Bangs for good measure. Shoving everything else into her trunk, Ginny met Neville and Colin as they were coming through the portrait hole.

"You both stink!" she hissed as she caught a whiff of manure.

"Zacharias Smith split a bag of fertilizer in Greenhouse two, so we all stink." Neville grumbled between gasps. They must have run all the way from Herbology.

"If anyone walks past Snape's office while we're in there they'll smell you! Can Sean step in?" She asked in an urgent whisper, trying not to inhale.

"He's worse off than we are. Look, we'll shower quick and change, Snape won't be in the Great Hall for at least half an hour." Colin answered.

"You go meet Luna and tell her we'll be there before Snape is." Neville called as the two boys started towards the stairs. Ginny couldn't protest any more as more victims of Zacharias' fertilizer accident were now arriving.

"And eat something!" Colin shouted back before disappearing into his dorm. Ginny patted her pockets one last time and headed down to the Great Hall. They had barely started and things were already working against them.

She and Luna picked at their food until they were joined by the boys twenty minutes later. Their section of the Gryffindor table was nearly silent as everyone around them chatted excitedly about the upcoming weekend, or moaned about the essays they'd been assigned. Finally, Neville nudged Ginny's arm, and she looked up to see that Snape had finally materialized at the head table.

"Give it a minute." Ginny said out of the corner of her mouth as Colin started to shift in his seat. Ginny forced herself to finish the last of her roasted potatoes before slipping Colin the wrapped package.

"Don't set it off right after we leave, but don't wait until he's done eating either. Either one might make him suspicious." Ginny whispered as Colin pulled the brown wrappings away. In his hand lay what looked like a bright blue, semi translucent rocket ship.

"There's something in there!" Colin whispered as he raised his hand so it was nearly level with the top of the table. "I've never seen anything like this in the shop before!" As Ginny looked closer, she could indeed see tiny shadows moving around inside the toy.

"Me either, but George said it'd work. You turn the bottom bit here until you hear a click, then set it down facing up." She instructed, pointing at the fins at the base. Colin nodded and slipped the rocket into his pocket.

"Let's get going then." Neville said as he and Luna stood up. Ginny followed them out into the corridor, forcing herself to walk at what she gauged to be a normal pace. The three of them walked towards the library in silence, waiting until they had passed one of the Security Wizards before ducking into an empty classroom.

"That's the alibi. Oops, sorry Neville." Luna said smiling as she smacked Neville with her wand a little harder than she had intended to. It had done the trick though, as he was quickly fading from view.

"Here, signal us if someone's coming." Ginny said as she pulled out a selection of Weasley Wizard Weezes from her pockets, which floated for a moment before disappearing into the folds of Neville's robes. Luna had already Disillusioned herself, so Ginny was the last to disappear into the darkness.

Once they were in the lit corridor though, Ginny began to doubt herself as she watched the fuzzy outlines ahead of her distort the walls and paintings around them. When they stopped to wait for Professor Sprout to pass them though, they nearly lost sight of each other completely.

"Come over here, we'll be faster if we hold hands." Luna's soft voice came from somewhere to her left. Ginny reached out and found Luna's arm, then her hand and gripped it tightly.

"Perfect, I have both of you. Everyone squeeze once for stop or go, and I'll squeeze twice if one of you lets go." Luna instructed. They at least moved much faster now, although the walk to Snape's office seemed to take twice as long as usual.

"I'm going to stand over there, there's more shadow." Neville muttered from nearby. Ginny could just make him out as he made his way to the other end of the hallway.

"I can see your arm in front of the painting; can you shift over a bit?" Ginny asked as she moved her head back and forth slightly. "There, perfect. We'll see you in a minute."

"Cokeworth." Luna said, prompting the Griffin to reveal its hidden staircase. Ginny set her jaw and realized that all of a sudden, she was calm. They had made it this far without anyone being the wiser and there was nothing to stop them now but time and their own spellwork.

Ginny pulled Luna forward and raced up the steps faster than the rotating staircase could go. Before she knew it, she was pushing open the large wooden door and stepping into what had been Dumbledore's Office for the first time since her father's attack nearly two years before.

What shocked Ginny was that it did still look like Dumbledore's office, Snape had changed very little about the room save for the immaculately clear desk, and of course the portrait of Dumbledore sleeping behind it.

"Over here," Luna called from the shelves nearby. Ginny saw a glass case holding the sword of Gryffindor float down, catching a glimpse of Luna as she walked through a shaft of fading sunlight.

"Alohomora" Luna said as the latch on the case snapped open, allowing the walls and lid to gently fall flat on the desk.

"It can't be that easy. Aparecium!" Ginny pointed her wand at the sword between them and the space where the case's walls had been suddenly glowed. Multicolored mist filled the air surrounding the sword as what looked like chains of light wove themselves around it from hilt to tip.

Immediately, both Ginny and Luna began muttering incantations under their breath, one after the other as their wands moved in complex patterns over the desk. Ginny hadn't anticipated how much more difficult it would be when she was unable see her wand in front of her, but she didn't dare make herself visible again.

Slowly, the swirling smoke began to fade one charm at a time, and the threads of light broke and dissolved in front of their eyes. Ginny did her best to ignore the slice of sunlight moving slowly up the wall of Snape's office as she worked. There was no way of knowing how much time they had left, how long Colin and Sean's distraction would keep Snape and the other Professors in the Great Hall.

"Tutus Gladius" Ginny mumbled. There was only one protection spell left around the sword, but nothing they had tried would make it shift. Ginny wracked her brain, sure she had tried all the counter curses Bill had ever showed her. She started repeating spells, concentrating so hard she barely heard Luna casting her own charms.

"What's left?" she muttered finally, staring down at the sword. A barely visible haze of red dust glittered along the length of the sword, seeming to collect within a half inch of its surface.

"I think you should pick it up." Luna mused.

"But we don't know what it'll do, nothing we've tried has touched it." Ginny replied. She crouched next to the desk and inspected the charm at eye level.

"I don't think it's a curse or a hex, it looks different from the others." Luna replied from nearly. Ginny cocked her head to the side, trying to see what Luna was seeing.

"It's not as bright as the others, and it's clinging to the sword itself, not the perimeters of the case." Luna continued. Ginny was starting to understand.

A bang echoed through the office, causing Ginny to jump to her feet.

"Someone's coming Ginny, trust me. Take the sword." Luna said, suddenly fierce. She couldn't tell that Ginny was already reaching for the hilt before she had started speaking.

As Ginny's fingers brushed the sword's rubies, the cloud vanished, being sucked back into the sword itself, not dissolving as the other curses had. Ginny grasped the handle and lifted the sword from its stand, momentarily in awe of the object she was holding.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs outside brought Ginny back to earth a fraction of a second later. Quickly she turned the sword's tip down and shoved it under her robes, letting it disappear from sight.

"Incarcerous" Ginny said, pointing her ward at her chest and feeling ropes bind the sword to her torso under her robes.

The door slammed open and Snape stood towering over them, his eyes scanning the room wildly, stopping at the flattened case upon his desk. His chest was heaving as his fingers gripped the door frame from beneath his dripping wet sleeves, blocking Ginny and Luna's escape.

"Show yourself!" he commanded, raising his wand and sweeping it across the room. Ginny held her breath each time he passed over her, never more thankful for the now dim twilight that filled the room.

"Stupefy!" Snape shouted, the spell caused the books on the shelf to Ginny's right to shoot onto the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what must have been Luna move across the room.

"Finite Incantatum!" Snape tried again, pointing at where Luna must have been moment before. Ginny was ready this time and took three steps towards the door before freezing on the spot as he turned back to the room. If he would only step out of the way of the door, Ginny could make it into the staircase when he casted his next spell.

She reached into her pocket slowly and pulled out a Decoy Detonator, and watched Snape's eyes as he squinted into the shadows of the room. As soon as she was out of his line of sight, Ginny leaned down awkwardly and place the toy on the ground.

Snape set off two more spells as Ginny waited for the Decoy Detonator to go off, the sword's handle jabbing into her side as she held her breath.

Ginny actually jumped when the noise erupted behind her, but it the distraction worked and Snape lunged forward, letting Ginny make a break for the door.

"There you are!" Snape growled from the other side of the room. Ginny ducked instinctively, but no curse shot over her head. Glancing behind her, Ginny saw Snape leaning over his own outstretched hand, which was gripping what looked like solidified air.

"Expelliarmus!" Ginny shouted, but she had forgotten about the sword strapped to her side and tripped, shattering the window behind Snape. Snape jerked his arm forward, shielding himself from Ginny with Luna's invisible body. His brow furrowed as he tried to make out the second intruder's form.

"Go!" Luna shouted as Ginny stood frozen at the top of the steps.

"I'm not leaving without you!" Ginny yelled back, trying to make out where Luna was. Snape shot another stunning spell in her direction, which Ginny barely managed to dodge. It was impossible to retaliate with Luna in front of him.

" _This_ is foolish bravery!" Luna shouted and Snape's next jinx caught the sleeve of her robes, and the Disillusionment Charm began to falter. Ginny whipped around and started down the staircase, thinking of Neville in the corridor. Snape probably subdued him, but if she could free him, they stood a chance.

Snape had followed her out of his office, but holding an invisible teenager in front of him was slowing him down as he bungled his way down the steps. Ginny reached the bottom of the stairs and threw her weight against the heavy door, but her shoulder never collided with the exit, and instead she slammed onto the stone floor of the corridor.

"There's number two!" Alecto said with a giggle as Ginny gasped and pain shot through her calf.

"Finite Incantatum!"

"Petrifcus Totalus!" Ginny shouted, but she was still dazed and her spell missed its targets. From outside of field of vision, Amycus disarmed her as she lay injured and visible on the ground between him and his sister.

Ginny moaned and rolled onto her back and looked down at her leg. Her robes we wet where the side of the sword had sliced the skin, and it was getting harder to breathe with the bonds around her chest.

"Incarcerous." Came Snape's voice, almost lazily in the doorway. Ginny felt more ropes tighten around her entire body as Luna appeared in front of her.


	11. Chapter 11 - Memories Returned

Ginny, Luna and Neville were led roughly through the castle, bound from their knees to their shoulders, their mouths jinxed shut. Snape had extracted the sword from Ginny's robes before handing them off to the Carrows, letting Ginny catch sight of the 6 inch cut in her calf.

"Oh, we are going to have fun with you, thought you'd break into the Headmaster's Office eh?" Alecto said mockingly as they walked.

"Tisk tisk, you'll learn soon enough. You'll all learn soon enough." Ginny tried to block out her laugher, but it was surprisingly difficult despite the concentration it was taking her to limp through the corridors without toppling over. The ropes had pulled Ginny's robes up a few inches when she was picked up off the floor and Neville kept glancing down at the blood trickling into her sock.

The eerily empty corridors were making Ginny even more nervous, students should have poured out of the Great Hall by now. Judging by Amycus and Alecto's dripping hair and robes, Colin and Sean had successfully set off the distraction at the very least.

"Down." Amycus snarled as they reached the stairs leading to the dungeons. Ginny glared at him and jerked her head down at the ropes binding them, making noised that would have been swear words if she had use of her mouth.

"Down." He repeated, this time pointing his wand at the space between Ginny's eyes. Ginny gave him a murderous look before turning sideways and beginning the ridiculous looking descent.

Alecto and Amycus called the group to a halt at the first door they came to, which Ginny had always assumed was a storage closet. It was almost directly below Filch's office and she had seen him coming out of it once on her way to potions.

Ginny felt Alecto's wand in her back and she stepped forward into the room, giving her eyes a moment to adjust as Neville and Luna followed.

"Shit!" a familiar voice broke through the darkness. Ginny felt the bottom of her stomach drop as she saw Colin's silhouette against the back wall. She assumed the shape next to him was Sean.

The door slammed shut behind them and someone came out of the shadows beside Ginny, grabbing her by the shoulders. She realized now that the room was too large to be a closet, but still smaller than any classroom she had seen elsewhere in the castle. It was dimly lit by four tall metal stands in the corners, each topped with a small fire. The flames cast eerie shadows, and glinted off what Ginny now realized were chains hanging from the walls and ceiling.

"We'll remove your ropes now, but I wouldn't run if I were you. We'd hate to take out all your punishment on these two." Amycus growled, motioning to Colin and Sean. Ginny met the Death Eater's eyes for a moment, locking his gaze, before slowly nodding.

Instantly, the ropes disintegrated and Ginny felt her chest expand, she hadn't realized how much they had been restricting her breathing. Nothing but pure spite and stubbornness were preventing Ginny from collapsing onto the floor, but it took everything she had to keep both feet firmly planted on the ground.

"Very good, we're learning." Amycus said. Ginny could hear the smile in his voice as the hands on her shoulders guided her to a space opposite Colin. A tall, thin looking figure Ginny couldn't recognize lit a fire in the fireplace near the door, adding enough light to the room that she could make out the feature's on the boy's faces across from her.

Ginny remained silent as Goyle grabbed her wrists roughly and clamped them into the shackles in the wall behind her. Crabbe was wrestling with Neville, who was substantially bigger than Ginny, to their right. Nearest the door was Luna, who had already been chained by Nott and was staring curiously around the room. Goyle gave the shackles one last shake before lumbering over to the hearth.

The dim light emitting from the fireplace revealed even more about the room, which Ginny decided could once have been a large office. Now there were small piles of clutter that looked like they had been carelessly kicked out of reach of the students bound to the walls and the air was thick with dust.

"We really should thank you." Amycus said, his twisted smile accentuated in the flickering light. "Our seventh years have been doing so well in class, this will be a real treat for them." The four Slytherins chuckled from behind their teacher, their faces hidden in shadow.

"Now then, why did you try to steal from the Headmaster?" Alecto asked, facing Colin and Sean first, then Ginny and the others. Neville spat on the floor.

"Oh, let's start with you then! Who's first?" She sounded gleeful as she spoke. One of the two thinner Slytherins stepped forward into the middle of the room, turning to face Neville with his wand raised. Ginny's stomach contracted as she saw the look of gleeful excitement on Nott's face.

"Crucio!" Nott's voice was disturbingly confident, but Ginny kept her eyes on Neville, his face was tense and his eyes were closed, but he managed not to make a sound.

"Stop it!" She screamed, unable to contain herself. Crabbe and Goyle guffawed in the background as Nott turned his wand on Ginny. She forced her breathing to slow and pulled the chains holding her tight and planted both feet firmly as she braced herself.

"Crucio!" Pain shot through her body as she clenched her jaw, trying to focus on the feeling of the cold metal around her wrists. It was over sooner than she expected, and she looked at Neville, confused. Laughter filled the air around her and it didn't take long to determine that it was not directed at Ginny's pain, but at her lack of a reaction to Nott's curse.

"Tisk tisk." Amycus chuckled. "Mr. Crabbe, show your classmate how it's done."

Crabbe shoved past Nott, who looked murderous as he stepped aside.

"CRUCIO!"

It wasn't pain that surged through Ginny's chest and spread into her limbs this time, it was white hot fire. She couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed, if she had been released from her restraints or if they had been tightened. All she could feel, all she could understand in that moment, were her bones shattering, splintering into her muscles, her scull contracting until it fractured against her brain.

And then it stopped. Ginny's other senses returned, but they felt muted and foggy. There was laughter again – no, not just laughter, yelling too, but from somewhere above her. Ginny realized her legs had given out and she was hanging by the shackles on her wrists. She took a breath and grasped the chains, pulling herself upright as she blinked and the room came back into focus. Everyone had gone quiet as she straightened up.

"Ginny…" Colin breathed; his eyes were wide and red around the edges.

"'m fine." Ginny replied, surprised as how quiet her voice was, her throat scratched and she realized she must have been screaming. Ginny looked to her right and saw that Neville was also regaining his composure; it looked as if Nott had slammed him against the wall.

"Oh wonderful, it sounds like you're up for another bought of questioning then. Mr. Creevey, Mr. Goyle, you boys haven't had a turn yet, have you?" Alecto said as she nodded to Goyle. Crabbe and Nott backed away to their place on the hearth.

"Why did you try to steal from the Headmaster?" Amycus asked. When nobody spoke, she nodded to Goyle.

Ginny made herself watch as Colin tried to double over and protect himself, his arms rattling their shackles as his screams pieced the air. Her throat closed up and she tasted iron in her mouth as she did everything in her power not to cry out with him.

"NO! No stop it! Let him go!"

Goyle moved to block her view of Colin, but seeing Sean was worse. He was pulling at his restraints, trying to lunge forward to protect Colin. Ginny couldn't tell who's screaming was more painful to hear.

And then it stopped.

"Why did you try to steal from the Headmaster?" Alecto repeated as Goyle stepped back so Ginny could get a full view of Colin. Her breathing finally slowed as she watched him struggle back to his feet.

"We wanted to return to sword to Gryffindor Tower." Luna lied, her soft voice barely auditable.

"I thought you lot were supposed to be smart." Alecto giggled. "Mr. Malfoy, let's see how you do."

The fourth figure finally emerged from the shadows, his face looking hollow and sour as he shuffled to his place in front of Luna. Ginny set her jaw and stared at Malfoy's face, she was determined not to give them the pleasure of hearing her beg. Seconds ticked by as Ginny stared at Malfoy, her chest heaving with every shallow breath.

"Crucio!"

Luna didn't scream like Ginny and Colin had, but she didn't quite manage Neville's stony silence either. Her cries were muffled though, as if she was trying to keep her lips sealed to hold in the pain.

"I'm disappointed Mr. Malfoy. Don't laugh Mr. Nott, you did no better." Amycus said solemnly as Malfoy let his wand drop and Ginny heard Luna gasp for breath.

Each of them experienced the Cruciatus curse at the hands of each of the four Slytherin boys. It was hard to tell what was worse, being on the receiving end of one of Crabbe and Goyle's curses or watching the others go through it. With coaching, Nott and Malfoy's skill improved slightly, but it was still nearly bearable compared to the others.

"Still won't tell us who put you up to this, will you?" Alecto asked as she traced a stumpy finger down Sean's cheek, which was damp with sweat. Silence followed as she patrolled around the room slowly.

"What else could we try? Hmm…"

"Professor Carrow?" Nott said suddenly, twitching his head towards the corner near himself and Colin. Alecto and Amycus strode over to him and the three bent their heads together, but Ginny couldn't hear what they were saying. Her eyes found Colin, who looked as though he was straining to hear.

"This may just make up for your poor spellwork Mr. Nott!" Amycus announced as he clapped the boy on the shoulder. Colin looked wildly from the small group to Ginny and back again, a panic stricken look etched on his face.

Amycus picked out a dented metal dish from the pile of rubbish in the corner and pointed his want at its center, muttering under his breath. Colin had started muttering wildly, and Ginny could just make out what he was saying.

"You fucks." He panted "you sick, fucking bastards."

"Mr. Crabbe, unchain Miss. Weasley and bring her here." Alecto instructed, pointing at the center of the empty wall. Crabbe did as he was told and advanced on Ginny as Amycus set the bowl where his sister was pointing.

"Don't you dare! Don't you DARE fucking touch her!" Colin's voice was loud and frantic now, he was pulling on his chains as the rest of them watched, paralyzed and terrified to know what Colin had heard. Ginny tried to struggle against Crabbe, but she was suddenly very aware that he was nearly three times her size.

It only took a few seconds for him to free Ginny and force her to stand in front of Amycus and Alecto. Ginny did her best to block out Colin's voice as she stared at the two Death Eaters, who unlike Crabbe and Goyle, were barely as tall as she was.

"Mr. Nott, this was your idea, do you think you can perform better than you have so far this evening?" Amycus asked. Nott nodded and stepped in front of Ginny, just out of her reach had she dared to lunge at him.

"Imperius."

Ginny suddenly felt as though she was floating, her senses were dulled down, the pain in her leg seemed to vanish. For the first time in recent memory, she wasn't angry or afraid or lonely. In fact, the only word she could think of to describe herself was happy. She wondered vaguely why nobody had done this to her sooner, the peaceful warmth that surrounded her was heavenly.

"Turn around." An unfamiliar voice instructed her. Ginny obeyed, spinning slowly on her heel to face the stone wall that had been behind her.

"Kneel down." Again, Ginny followed her instructions, sinking to her knees. She might have been kneeling on a down pillow.

"Put your hand in the bowl." As Ginny's index and middls fingers dipped into the warm liquid, she felt something change. For a split second, she was not in her cloud of happiness. She saw an image of a dark corridor, but it was gone before she could recognize it.

Ginny was glad, she liked it much better here, where the folds of the Imperius Curse blocked out all the pain and darkness.

"Write the message." Was the next command. The wall in front of her flickered again, but Ginny was eager to feel her bliss and ignored it, bringing her hand up in front of her.

The sight of her hand, dripping in blood and poised against the bricks of the castle shattered before her eyes. Instead, she saw an unfamiliar scene, of a hand much smaller than hers, mimicking her exactly.

"Write the message." The strange voice repeated. Once again she welcomed the peace that came with the command as she returned to the present, and she became eager to comply. If she did as she was told, she wouldn't have to go back again.

Her fingers touched the stone wall and she began to drag them downwards, leaving a streak of glistening red in their wake. She was dimly aware of people around her yelling, but she ignored them. If she didn't, it would all come back again.

"Very good Ginny…" Came a new voice, this one was not a stranger's voice, but one she knew, one she had not heard in five years. She was back again, back in the corridor, the strangely small hand extended in front of her, moving smoothly across the wall. Ginny felt the fear creeping back in, she wanted to leave, she wanted the clouds back, she didn't want to be there.

"I want to go!" She tried to say, but her voice sounded higher than usual. She was a passenger in her body now, nothing more than an observer as her eleven year old hands continued to move in front of her eyes.

"Don't you want to stay with me? Aren't I your only friend?" Riddle's voice whispered in her ear, as real as it had ever been.

"No, you're not, you're not my friend! I have friends now!" She argued back, unable to close her eyes to the scene in front of her. Even Ginny found it difficult to take the young girl's pleading seriously.

"They don't understand you Ginny. Not like I do. They'll never really love you, not after what you've done." Ginny could feel hot tears pouring down her cheeks, and her body began to shake. The scene in front of her changed again, she was sixteen again and the Imperius Curse enveloped her in warmth.

"Keep going…" Riddle's voice rang out in her head, but Ginny stayed frozen in place.

"KEEP GOING!" Riddle was shouting, filling her ears as if he was standing next to her. Someone else was shouting too, everyone was shouting. Ginny raised both her hands this time, placing their palms against the cold stone, but even that didn't stop her arms from shaking.

"KEEP-"

"NO!" Ginny screamed, pushing herself off the wall as the curse broke. Pain and shouting crashed down on her in an instant as she tried to get up. There was chaos in the room, Dumbledore's Army must have broken free of their restraints and were wrestling with the Slytherins and the Carrows. Nobody seemed to notice that Ginny had come to, let alone covered herself in sick.

Coughing and retching, Ginny rolled onto her side and tried once more to get up off the floor, but her arms wouldn't hold her. She collapsed again and lay panting on the floor, her eyes closed as she hit the ground.

Ginny could feel herself starting to lose consciousness and tried to force herself to stay alert. She opened her eyes and stared at the wall, then retched again as she read the message she could now remember writing. The words that the school had managed to keep a secret from her for five years, that Ron and Harry had seen, and never told her about.

 _HER SKELETON WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER_

* * *

 **A/N:** Yes, Phineas Nigellus does tell the Trio that the detention was served with Hagrid, but I think that stealing from the headmaster, and Voldemort's right hand man, would warrant a more extreme punishment. At the beginning of the year, the Carrows would be pushing boundaries to see what they could get away with, it seems weird to me that two power hungry death eaters who were in charge of punishment would send them off with a known supporter of Dumbledore. But if Ron and Harry knew what Ginny had gone through, they probably would have stormed the castle, so Snape told Phineas to lie if he was ever asked what happened to Ginny and the others, which is why they thought she'd spent the night helping Hagrid.


	12. Chapter 12 - Waking Up

"Colin? Luna?" Ginny called into the darkness when she next opened her eyes. Moonlight was flooding through the windows, illuminating the dark hospital wing as she swung her feet over the edge of the bed.

"Neville? Sean?" Her voice was weak and a dull ache throbbed throughout her entire body. Looking down at her leg, Ginny saw it was heavily bandaged.

"Back it bed" Madam Pomfrey's voice echoed around the otherwise abandoned wing. Ginny remained sitting up as the nurse scurried over to her from her office.

"Where are they?" Ginny asked, letting Madam Pomfrey fuss over her. Years of dealing with Molly after getting into scraps with her brothers had taught her it was easiest to let herself be checked over.

"You need rest, and a dose of dreamless sleep potion if you please." Madam Pomfrey said as she pulled a bottle out of her frock and emptied it into the goblet on Ginny's nightstand.

"What happened to the others?" She repeated, taking the goblet but refusing to drink. Madam Pomfrey put her hands on her hips and looked down at her sternly.

"I'll drink it, just tell me they're okay" Ginny said steadily.

"They aren't here, so clearly they are well enough to sleep in their own beds." Madam Pomfrey replied impatiently. Ginny relaxed and brought the cup to her lips obediently, tipping it up to empty the potion into her mouth.

* * *

Ginny felt the warm sun filtering through the windows onto her face before she opened her eyes. As she peeked through her lashes, she picked out several blurry figures huddles around her bed whispering to each other. Blinking, she turned her head to the side and opened her eyes and met Luna's smile.

"Feeling better?" Luna asked as the others stopped talking immediately and turned to her. Ginny propped herself up on her elbows and drank in the sight of her friends, battered and bruised though they may be.

"Just sore, you lot alright?" Ginny asked as she began to count their injuries. Sean had a black eye, Colin's arm was in a sling and a patch of his hair looked singed. There was a cut around Luna's eye and Neville had a nasty bruise on his jaw.

"We're fine, just bumps and bruises, all courtesy of the Slyterins and Carrows of course." Neville said through a fat lip.

"How did you get free, I was…" Ginny's voice trailed off as she remembered what she had done in the dungeons, what she had remembered from years before.

Immediately she looked to Colin, her eyes wide and frightened.

"Do they… did you…?" She began to ask, but the rest of the words wouldn't come. Colin smiled apologetically and squeezed her hand gently.

"They got there on their own. I thought it was only fair to explain a few details." Colin offered quietly. "I only did it because they were a little freaked out. And understandably so."

"What, that I spent my first year at Hogwarts trying to kill off Muggle Borns?" Ginny challenged as fear and anger rose in her chest.

"We didn't think that for a minute, we know you didn't have anything to do with it" Neville protested. Ginny set to chewing her lip as she stared down at her hands. Her stomach churned as she realized that someone had done an exemplary job of getting the blood out from under her nails. At least she didn't have to do that on her own again.

"What I want to know is how Nott knew that Riddle used you to open the chamber." Sean said, trying to show support and shift the conversation.

"Lucius Malfoy planted Riddle's diary, I imagine he bragged to Nott's father about what he made me do. Not something they'd spread around the school though, nobody likes the idea of a Blood Traitor Gryffindor being the Heir of Slytherin." Ginny answered. She'd stopped noticing the odd Death Eater's kid staring at her in class years ago, but the rumor was out there. She'd just proved it was true for four of them now.

"You're _not_ the Heir of Slytherin." Colin said fiercely as he met Ginny's hard stare.

"Of course she's not, she's no more the heir of Slytherin than you or Hermione or any of the others." Luna piped up. The conversation stopped as Madam Pomfrey bustled over to Ginny's bed and began checking the bandages on her leg.

"How's it feel dear?" She asked as the others moved to the head of Ginny's bed to let Madame Pomfrey work. Ginny shifted her leg a little and thought for a moment.

"Kind of tight around the whole calf." She answered as she felt the bandages being removed. Madame Pomfrey muttered under her breath and began redressing the wound.

"I don't know what you managed to get in that cut child, but it's going to be a few days before you can walk on it." She mused. Ginny nodded and pulled her pajamas back down as the others had their injuries checked on.

"Professor McGonagall said she wanted to know when you were awake." Madam Pomfrey said as she adjusted Colin's sling.

"I'll go." Sean answered, his eye now covered in a thick paste. Madam Pomfrey nodded and Sean turned to leave. Nobody else spoke until Madam Pomfrey was safely back in her office.

"So what happened after I- when the curse broke?" Ginny pressed as she heard the door close. The other three glanced at each other awkwardly before Neville turned to Ginny.

"We aren't sure really. Colin was in a right state from the word go, so we think he did it." Neville explained. Ginny turned to face Colin, who was sucking the inside of his cheek.

"How?" She asked.

"With magic, like when I broke Dennis' guitar in third year." Colin explained. Ginny thought about it for a moment.

"You used Accidental Magic?" she asked, almost not believing it "at our age?"

Colin picked at the blanket on Ginny's bed and shrugged.

"Believe it or not, watching my best friend going through intense psychological torture was a bit more distressing than my kid brother calling me gay."

"But you are gay." Luna said matter-of-factly, causing Ginny to chuckle as Colin smiled a little sheepishly.

"I went through a brief and intense period of denial." Colin explained as Neville rolled his eyes. Their conversation was cut short again as the door to the hall opened and Professor McGonagall entered, followed by Sean.

"Thank you Peakes, I'll need a moment with Miss Weasley now." McGonagall said, addressing the rest of the group as well.

"We'll bring you back some lunch." Neville offered as he stood up with the others and got ready to leave.

"Meals are being served in the same classrooms as Breakfast this morning. It appears that the water has surpassed eight feet in the Great Hall." The Professor said, as if she were mentioning a fact to include in their homework. She waited until the other four had closed the door behind them before addressing Ginny.

"I've just been writing to your parents, I think it's important to inform them of what happened in the dungeons last night." McGonagall said, taking Luna's seat.

"No!" Ginny said before she could stop herself. McGonagall arched an eyebrow and surveyed her critically.

"Miss Weasley, I would be neglecting my duties as your head of house if I kept this from your parents." She replied calmly. "I am not asking for your permission, but would like to update them on your current condition. I'm sure after hearing what you went through, they will want to know you are recovering."

"What I went through?" Ginny said through her teeth. "I didn't _go through_ anything. I had something _done_ to me. I learned the difference years ago." Professor McGonagall didn't react to Ginny's outburst, but met her eyes with an expression Ginny couldn't quite place.

"Forgive me, I misspoke." McGonagall replied gently. The two sat quietly for a moment as Ginny calmed herself down.

"If you tell them, they'll make me come home." She said finally, looking up to meet the older woman's gaze.

"You're underage, it's their right to bring you home if they believe it's the safest place for you." The Professor answered steadily.

"Do you really think I'll be any safer at home than at Hogwarts?" Ginny asked daringly "and what would happen if all the students who were standing up to the Carrows were sent home? You're busy with the war outside, someone has to be fighting the war inside."

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips for a moment. "The staff is doing everything in our power to keep Hogwarts as safe as possible. Students are not expected to fight in any war."

"But it's not and we are." Ginny replied calmly. "It's not right and it's not fair, but we don't have a choice. If Dumbledore's Army stops fighting, everyone stops fighting. He'll win and Hogwarts will become Death Eater recruitment grounds!" McGonagall was quiet.

"You're not allowed to tell them about what happens in detention anyways!" Ginny said suddenly.

"I beg your pardon?" McGonagall asked looking shocked.

"Educational Decree Thirty Two! All disciplinary action is to be referred the Carrows, including detentions, make-up classes, and notifying of parents and guardians of the details of a student's punishments!" Ginny explained. McGonagall pursed her lips again as Ginny waited patiently.

"Very well." She said finally. "I will write to your parents, but I won't include details of your… of what happened after" Ginny chanced a small, grateful smile.

"- on one condition." McGonagall finished as Ginny's face fell slightly. "I already know why you broke into the headmaster's office, and I don't want to hear excuses. I need your word that you will not attempt it again, nor will you allow other such reckless plans to take place in the future. You put yours and four other students' lives at great risk last night." She finished, staring at Ginny over the top of her spectacles. Ginny nodded once.

"Good. If students _are_ being brought into this war, I hope Longbottom and the rest of you are doing your best to keep them safe." Professor McGonagall said as she got up to leave. Ginny stared for a moment, but her teacher was gone before she could string together an answer.

* * *

It was like watching one of the fims Colin has shown her once, she was walking through the dark stone corridors of Hogwarts, but it wasn't really her. She watched the brick walls pass by her, but she couldn't hear her own footsteps, everything was muffled. Was she even walking? She could have been floating.

"Hurry up!" someone called from around the corner. The voice was familiar, but childlike. Ginny began running towards the voice – could you run if you were floating?

She caught sight of a group of children running ahead of her and hurried to catch up. When had the walls begun to slope so much? The corridor had morphed into a tunnel, winding deeper and deeper, further and further down into the belly of the castle.

"Wait for me!" Ginny called, her high voice echoing eerily off the sides of damp walls. There was the sound of splashing nearby, of people running through dark puddles that had collected on the floor.

"Faster!" Colin's voice was joined by that of a young girl – Hermione maybe? Ginny hurried towards them.

"Keep going!" The older voice, it didn't belong with the others.

"Wait! I want to come!" Ginny yelled frantically, she didn't want her friends to play with Tom, he might tell on her. She had to get to them before he did.

"Hurry!" Colin sounded frightened now; he must have caught sight of Tom. The splashing footsteps were getting quicker, they were running.

"Well done Ginny! Catch them!" Tom's voice was close, she couldn't see him, but he must be near her. She turned another corner and was suddenly blinded.

There was no more sound, no feeling, only blackness for minutes on end. Then slowly, things began to come back into focus. Someone was whispering nearby, but there was no other noise. Ginny stepped closer and crawled over a fallen column – no, it was something else, something large, something dead.

Sliding down the other side of the snake, Ginny suddenly found herself staring at the figure of a young man, his face hidden by shadow.

"Do you see what you've done?" Harry asked, thick red tears streaming down his cheeks. Behind him, the rubble came into focus.

"They were your friends!" He yelled. Ginny couldn't speak, couldn't close her eyes. All she could see was the bodies of Colin, Hermione, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Penelope Clearwater, their faces white, their blank eyes crying blood. Around them, she saw more, though their faces were hidden, wouldn't quite come into focus.

Ginny recognized the woven bracelet on Luna's wrist. Shocks of red hair peeked out all around her as her eyes passed over Ron, Fred and George. Sean and Neville were both face down between Luna and Colin, as if they had been running towards Harry and Ginny.

"It wasn't me!" Ginny tried to say, but nothing came out. She tried again and again, until she was screaming, but she couldn't make a sound.

"How could anyone love you after what you've done?" He asked as Ginny sank to her knees. She raised her small hands in front of her face, but their bloodstains couldn't distract her from the grisly scene beyond them.

Ginny's eyes focused on a figure that had risen from the cluster of corpses. Tom was walking towards Harry from behind, his feet a hovering well above the stone floor. She couldn't warn him, Harry was bearing down on her, his wand raised, pointing at her forehead.

"NOOOOO!" Ginny managed to scream as Tom morphed into Lord Voldemort, but it was too late. Harry's lifeless form was slumped against her knees.

"Now you can stay with me. Come, pet." It was Tom again, reaching down and offering his pale, ghostly hand to her as his scarlet eyes bore into hers.

* * *

Ginny woke suddenly, her sheets wet and cold, tangled tightly around her, and her throat dry and sore. She lay still for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of her dormitory before peeling her bed linens away and picking up the small framed painting on her nightstand.

She was finally free of the hospital wing after having been confined to it for most of the weekend. She had hoped Sunday evening's Quidditch practice would exhaust her enough to avoid the nightmares, but Madam Pomfrey only permitted her to supervise from the sidelines.

"Is he awake?" She asked the petite blond figure, who's cartoonish eyes blinked far more often than was strictly necessary.

"I'm sure he will be." She answered, turning to walk out the side of the plain canvas background.

Ginny tried to stop herself from shaking long enough to change into a clean pair of pajamas, stripped her pillow of its damp case and picked her wand up as it fell to the floor. Her dorm mates had long since accepted Ginny's excuses and most of them could literally perform silencing charms in their sleep by the end of their second year.

She clung to her pillow as she made her way down to the common room and waited. The girl in the portrait hadn't come back, so he must be coming. The embers of the fire danced as Ginny curled up on the couch, hugging her knees and staring into the hot coals.

"I was wondering if they'd be back." Colin's groggy voice came from the stairs.

"I'm sorry. They still get to me." Ginny replied as she watched him make his way over to their couch, his thick quilt and pillow trailing behind him.

"I'm honestly surprised it wasn't me waking you up this time" Colin was throwing his bedding over Ginny and crawling under it on the other end of the couch. Once he was settled, Ginny let herself stretch out and buried herself in her pillow.

"Alright?" Ginny asked.

Colin answered with a sleepy grunt. She took a deep breath and began reciting everything she could remember from her nightmare, and as she did, the details began to fade, the timing and faces mixed up.

"They're not memories. You weren't there when it happened." Colin said once she had finished.

"I know. But they still…" Ginny tried to explain

"I know. Think you can sleep yet?" Colin asked. Ginny closed her eyes for a moment, but she didn't need to answer him. She couldn't stop herself from jerking as she flung her eyes back open a second later. Without a word, Colin took her hand under the blankets and pointed his wand at the fireplace. The room filled with warm, flickering firelight and Ginny took comfort in staring into the dancing flames.

"Is it him?" Colin asked once her breathing had slowed. Voldemort's face, twisted to look younger, had often swarmed into view as Ginny was recovering from a nightmare.

"He's worse," she answered, taking a deep breath. "Now I can remember what he looked like."


	13. Chapter 13 - Hope and Nostalgia

"Flitwick did a pretty good job." Ginny mused as she glanced around the hall at breakfast the next morning. There was a faint smell of salty sea air that wafted through, as though someone had left a window open at a beach house.

"How was the DA meeting yesterday?" Ginny asked as she took a seat next to Luna.

"Not terribly productive, mostly people were asking what happened to us in the dungeons." Luna replied. "Demelza Robins and Christian Alexander stunned Zacharias Smith at the same time, which was odd. I think he had said something rude about you."

Ginny glanced at Neville who shrugged, which told her that he had probably deserved it. That certainly explained by the two chasers had done so well at practice later in the day.

"Some of them are upset they weren't told ahead of time, they seem to think they could have stopped us getting caught if they were in on it." Neville said as he loaded eggs onto his plate.

"That's stupid, we had more than enough people already. There's nothing they could have done aside from tackling Snape when he left the hall." Ginny answered glancing around the room. Several DA members seemed to be stealing glances at her over their breakfast. "What did you tell them?"

"Pretty much what you just said. They seem to think it was a great adventure and have started claiming spots the next time we try something." Neville replied, hailing to Sean who had just entered the hall.

"They're going to be disappointed. I'll think of what to tell them at the next meeting. Potterwatch has a broadcast tomorrow night, I think we can hold them off until then." Ginny said. She knew what it felt like to be left out of plans, but it was one thing to have a couple extra people tag along, these days the DA had 50 members attending most meetings. She couldn't imagine trying to organize something on that scale other than a full on revolt.

"Are you going to tell them what Professor McGonagall said?" Luna asked as she dipped toast in her pumpkin juice. Ginny thought for a moment.

"Not exactly. Nobody has a problem with us teaching them how to defend themselves, but I'm not sure how they'd react to the idea of us being in charge. We never did a vote or anything like when Harry ran the DA." She said finally.

"McGonagall as good as put you and Neville in charge." Sean interjected as he took his seat across from Colin.

"You guys too, and it wasn't like she was knighting us or anything. I think she just knows how things are working, and that we have a fair amount of influence on the group already." Ginny reasoned.

"I don't know that anyone would want to hear about you two in charge looking like that anyways." Sean said, looking from Ginny to Colin and back again.

"We'd have gotten a decent night's sleep if that damned house elf didn't wake us up at four in the morning." Colin muttered as he stared blankly at his plate, as if trying to remember what it was for. Sean rolled his eye and filled Colin's mug with coffee until it was in danger of overflowing.

"Catch some shut eye before Transfiguration?" he suggested.

"Not if he wants to live through it. I saw the two inches he managed to get done on the Fourth Exception to Gamp's Law over the weekend." Ginny chided, pouring herself a mug as well.

Most of the DA accepted what Ginny and the others had to say about avoiding any large-scale schemes, at least for the time being. A few of them approached her over the next couple of weeks with one ridiculous plan or another, as if to test if she was serious.

One of the most outlandish by far was Jack Sloper's suggestion to somehow trick the centaurs (and "werewolves and whoever else we can find") in the forbidden forest into launching an attack during a Quidditch match. Ginny could hardly bring herself to dignify him with an answer and had to shove her hands into the pockets of her robes to stop herself from smacking him upside the head.

* * *

"Heads up!" Demelza called as Ginny caught the quaffle with her fingertips, looping around Jimmy, who was standing in as an opposing team's chaser.

Quidditch practice was getting more intense as their first match against Slytherin was a mere two weeks away. The Gryffindor team was trying to balance practice with DA meetings and classes, not to mention the frequent, although slightly less extreme, detentions.

Ginny closed in on the goalposts, waiting until the last possible moment to pass the quaffle to Christian. He barely touched it before passing it at lightning speed to Demelza, who had hung back off to the side of the pitch. The quaffle shot through the hoop at such speed that Fiona had to shake the sting off her hand.

"That was great!" Ginny said as the team cheered. "If Bletchley plays anything like his brother, he'll be trying for one handed saves more often than not. If we can whip the quaffle like that at the match it'll throw him off his game."

"Let's run the play one more time. Belmont, try a two-handed save this time." She called as the rest of the team followed her back to the center of the pitch.

"Alexander, let's see if you can fire the quaffle through the goal posts as fast as you passed it to Robins. Throw hard and fast." Ginny blew her whistle and they sped back towards Fiona, weaving through Dennis, Jimmy, and Richie Coote.

The clouds that had been looming overhead finally burst open, soaking the team, although none of them uttered a complaint. Quidditch was a much needed distraction from the chaos around them, and they continued running plays until lightning began to light up the distant sky.

"Alright, let's call it a day!" Ginny called out after a great roar of thunder prompted a few of the players to glance at her nervously. Hagrid must have been watching them practice from his hut, because Ginny could now make out his large silhouette marching towards them, only turning around when the team made a safe decent to the ground.

Everyone changed slowly in the dressing room and the rain on the roof grew louder and louder. Finally the team had to accept that the storm wasn't going to let up anytime soon and made a mad dash for the castle. Demelza tried casting a shield charm above their heads, but it was no use.

"We might as well have stayed in our Quidditch robes" Dennis groaned as he shook damp hair off his face in the entrance hall.

"We'd better dry off, if Filch catches us traipsing through the castle like this…" Christian said as he began blowing warm air at his robes.

"Yeah, he's been a little touchy about water ever since the English Chanel decided to funnel itself into the great hall." Jimmy chuckled. Ginny stifled a laugh and followed Christian's movements with her own wand until she stopped dripping.

"It's nearly eight; we should get going if we want seats near the wireless." Ginny said checking her watch. That evening's Potterwatch broadcast was set for 8:46, so they would be listening in their house common rooms instead of risking being caught in the halls after curfew.

During their trek Gryffindor Tower, the team made sure to take a few moments to fix some of the graffiti Filch had been trying to scrub off the walls. It was a habit of their now to duck down the nearest secret passageway to avoid bumping into any of the Security Wizards too close to the scene of their crimes.

Ginny's prediction proved to be accurate as soon as they looked through the portrait hole into the crowd of students. Ginny braced herself and wormed her way into the cramped common room, craning her neck to find Colin and Neville had claimed seats at the front of the room.

"Coming through! Rank Quidditch players trying to get through!" She hollered as a second year who had stepped on her foot ducked out of her way.

"We have 50 teenagers in here, it already stinks!" Neville laughed as he watched Ginny fight her way over to the wireless. She finally stepped over some first years who were sitting cross legged on the floor and perched herself on the arm of Colin's chair.

"Remind me to write Fred and George and ask for another wireless so we can listen in your dormitory next time." She muttered as she was finally able to take in the rest of the room.

"I doubt it'd get through the post, they know about Potterwatch, they just can't catch anyone with it. Besides, you know how many questions come up after the program ends." Neville reasoned, checking his watch.

They passed the time verbally abusing the Carrows and a select group of Slytherin students who always seemed to be around whenever punishment needed to be doled out. Most of them were the children of Death Eaters, although there were of course exceptions to the rule.

"Any more news about that Talia girl in your year? The one who got in a fight with Alecto?" Neville asked.

"Tabitha Bainbridge?" Colin replied "I wouldn't call it a fight, she just got slapped for questioning Alecto." Ginny felt her stomach drop slightly when she realized that nobody else seemed troubled by the casual mentioning of a student being hit by a teacher for asking a question.

"We only ever see her in potions and charms." Ginny offered. "She keeps to herself mostly." In truth, Tabitha was sort of the type of person who was easy to overlook, especially when Flitwick and Slughorn's classes tended to be fairly rowdy. Thinking back, Ginny couldn't place her at any of the altercations that tended to happen between the two houses when the Professor turned his back.

"You like her or something?" Colin asked. Ginny looked at Neville and realized he seemed to be lost in thought as well. Colin had to nudge him to get his attention.

"Hmm? Nah, I was just wondering what was going on. I overheard Pansy Parkinson arguing with Daphne Greengrass before Dark Arts yesterday and I was sure her name was mentioned." Neville said, shaking himself back to the present.

"They've never really gotten along though have they?" Ginny said, remembering something she'd been told ages ago.

"Hermione said they'd kept clear of each other since some fight they'd had at the Yule Ball. What else did they say?"

Neville suddenly looked uncomfortable and glanced at Colin for a moment. Ginny locked her eyes on his until he answered.

"Parkinson said something about the Sacred Twenty Eight before storming off…" He said finally. Ginny scowled.

"The sacred what-now?" Colin asked, looking confused.

"Twenty Eight. It's a snobby list of supposedly 'pure' families." Ginny spat. To her surprise, Colin looked like he was trying to choke back laughter.

"I bet both your families are on that list" he chuckled, looking highly amused. Ginny glowered at him.

"Isn't it time yet?" Neville asked as he distracted himself by fiddling with the wireless. Everyone else seemed to have noticed the time as well, as silence gradually fell over the common room.

"Before we tune in," Ginny stood up and called to the waiting students "we need to go over a few rules." Jack Sloper rolled his eyes, but Demelza elbowed him in the ribs before he could open his mouth.

"If you recognize somebody's voice, keep it to yourself. They're already putting enough at risk by broadcasting, the least we can do is honour their code names." A few students who had excitedly blurted out names in the past looked sheepish.

"We'll discuss any questions anyone has after the programme finishes, so keep quiet so everyone can hear the broadcast. Before signing off, River will tell us the time and password so we can tune in next time. You need to think very carefully before sharing this with anyone, and it should never be written down. All clear?" Heads nodded silently around her as Ginny took her seat once again.

Finally, Neville tapped his wand on the top of the wireless and Lee Jordan's voice returned to Gryffindor Tower.

"Good evening listeners and welcome back to Potterwatch! I apologize again for the late hour, but we're trying to keep Death Eaters on their toes and we hear it's past their bedtime!" Nervous laughter rippled through the common room from those who had not heard the program before. Regular listeners from the DA smiled to each other but kept silent.

"We have a shorter show than usual tonight, but we're making up for it by introducing a new guest, who should be able to shed a little light on what the Chief Death Eater and his gang are up to." Ginny waved her hand to hush the students who had started whispering amongst themselves.

"Welcome Romulus, it's a pleasure to have you!" Ginny racked her brain for a moment, the name was familiar – Wasn't he an Egyptian wizard Carrow had lectured on?

"Thank you River, this really is a wonderful program you have going." Remus sounded like he was praising Lee for a classroom assignment, and somehow that comforted Ginny.

"Thanks Romulus, we're glad we were finally able to get you on the air." Lee was having trouble keeping the pride out of his voice. "It sounds like you have some pretty er - _unique_ opportunities to gather information about the other side." Ginny, Colin and Neville grinned broadly at each other.

"I guess you could say that," Remus chuckled. Most of the students looked confused. "I obviously can't share most of what I've learned on the air, but I'll do my best. What I think is of most importance to the general public is making sure that you have the right information from the right sources." Recognition had dawned on Jack and a few of the other OWL and NEWT students. Dennis had turned excitedly to Jimmy, but he caught Neville's warning look and clamped his mouth shut.

"So these rumors that a curfew has been set to jinx anyone caught on the streets after dark?" Lee asked.

"That's a perfect example River." Ginny half expected him to award Gryffindor ten house points. "I can confirm that the Caterwauling Charm is being used in some areas, although the most harm it will cause you is a headache. Until Snatchers or Death Eaters show up that is." Remus explained.

"Ironically, this type of system is already in use in many Muggle homes, though of course it is electric, not magic. If an unauthorized witch or wizard were to enter an area protected by the Caterwauling Charm, their presence would be announced by a banchee-like screaming."

"Sounds pleasant" River mused "is there any way to know where a Caterwauling Charm has been placed?"

"Not normally, but really the Death Eaters are using it as a deterrent, to control residents in a specific area. For example, we have confirmed that is it being used to enforce a curfew on the streets of Hogsmead. This isn't surprising of course, as the Chief Death Eater might be expecting Harry Potter to contact someone at Hogwarts if he is unable to get in touch with members of the Order of the Phoenix."

"And do you think he's on the right track about that?" Lee asked. Remus was silent for a moment and Ginny could hear her heart beating. The lack of response made her wonder if Lee had gone too far with the interview.

"That's a tough question River, because as far as I know, Harry hasn't sought contact with members of the Order since he infiltrated the ministry of Magic in September. That's not to say he can't or won't, but for now he seems to be doing a bang up job on his own." Ginny chewed her bottom lip, but the corners of her mouth twitched regardless.

"You're confident he's out there fighting for us then?" Lee asked, although he didn't seem to doubt it himself.

"Very. There is no doubt in my mind that Harry Potter is out there and that he's doing everything in his power to bring down the Chief Death Eater. I'm also positive that _if_ he were ever caught by the other side, they would make it their first priority to show us proof." Colin's hand squeezed Ginny's shoulder so no one would see, and she realized there was a tightness in her chest. She blinked a few times forced herself to swallow, but she had distracted herself and missed the end of Remus' segment.

Lee signed off the air and they were hit with a barrage of questions all at once.

"Will the Hogsmead trip be cancelled?"

"What's the Order of the Phoenix?"

"What did he mean by information from the right sources?"

"I thought Snatchers _were_ Death Eaters?"

Ginny and Neville stood and began answering them one by one as best they could. Finally the excitement died down and students began chatting quietly amongst themselves.

Neville must have noticed the buzzing that was coming from the wireless at the same time Ginny had. He reached over and turned one of the smaller knobs and the static was slowly replaced by the strumming of an acoustic guitar.

"Wait!" Colin shouted, jumping up and tuning the wireless. It took a few seconds, but soon a man's voice began singing clearly throughout the common room. Ginny couldn't help but notice how comforting the familiar lyrics and simple melody was.

"… And we're falling apart …" Colin's voice joined in seamlessly as a smile took over his face. "You'll say, the world has come between us…" Now Colin was leaning against Ginny, nudging her with his elbow. "Our lives have come between us, still I know you just don't care..."

Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head at him, but it was no use. She could hear the beat quicken and found herself smiling.

"And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's? She said…"Colin's voice was louder than the wireless now and she gave in.

"I think I remember the film" She sang quietly, the lyrics coming back to her as clear as the first dozen times she had heard it at Colin's years before. "And as I recall I think, we both kinda liked it"

"And I said well that's, the one thing we got!" Colin finished triumphantly. Ginny turned around at the sound of Dennis strumming chords out on his guitar nearby. Most of the common room was staring at the three of them confused, although Jimmy had started to bob his head in time with the music.

As Colin began singing the next verse, Ginny noticed Romilda Vane and a few of the others with a muggle parent or muggle born friends were mouthing a few lyrics under their breath.

"So what now? It's plain to see we're over" a fourth year girl Ginny didn't know had now joined Colin's bold performance. "And I hate when things are over, when so much is left undone…" the girl was motioning to her friends to join in, pulling them up from their seats.

By the time the chorus came around again, more students were fumbling over the words, trying to keep up with Ginny, who had abandoned resisting Colin at this point.

Dennis and Romilda added their voices to the final verse of the song, as well as a few others who mumbled through the words they didn't know. Colin and Ginny were now shamelessly serenading each other.

"You'll say the world has come between us," Colin's lyrics seemed to align better with the almost drowned out version coming out of the wireless.

"Our lives have come between us…" Ginny could feel the energy in the room mounting. "…Still I know you just don't care."

Even those who had never heard the song before were able to keep up with the rest, some of them swaying with Dennis' guitar, others drumming on the table tops with their hands.

"And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's?" Colin had his arm slung around Ginny's shoulder as they sang in unison.

"She said I think I remember the film, and as I recall I think, we both kinda liked it…" Ginny didn't care what she looked like as she pulled exaggerated faces to match Colin's. "… and I said well that's, the one thing we got!"

As the chorus began its final repeat, Colin turned down the volume on the wireless, letting it die down in time for Dennis to pick out the final solo on his own.

* * *

 **A/N:** For anyone who's wondering, the song is called Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something (released in 1993, hit #13 in the UK in 1996.)


	14. Chapter 14 - Hogsmeade

Saturday was the sort of grey day where you had no idea if it was morning, evening or high noon, but the clouds did nothing to dampen the excitement that came with the first visit to Hogsmeade. Everyone above second year had been looking forward to escaping Snape and the Carrow's grasp for weeks, if only for a few hours.

"I thought this was a date?" Colin asked as Ginny emerged from the girl's dormitory, her cloak hanging over the arm of her school robes.

"It's not _my_ date" she protested under her breath as she reached him. The common room was nearly empty already.

"It's supposed to be. Look, I dressed up!" Ginny took a step back and looked Colin up and down.

"You're very handsome, I just don't have anything warm enough." He did indeed look much more date-ready than Ginny. His robes were a few shades closer to blue than hers, which made his blue-grey eyes look like sapphires in the torch lit corridor.

"But I never got to see your Bridesmaid dress" Colin said, pouting slightly as he adjusted his bag.

"It's freezing out you prat!" She replied, shoving him gently. He was expecting it though and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, grinning.

Before descending the main staircase, Colin and Ginny took advantage of their view and scanned the packed entrance hall for Sean and Luna.

"There's Neville and Seamus… Oh, there they are, Luna's wearing her purple cloak!" Ginny said, pointing down at the pair of them. She took Colin by the arm and they made their way down into the crowd.

"I guess I am under dressed" Ginny laughed as she got close enough to truly appreciate Luna's outfit. Under her cloak she wore burnt orange dress robes with a plum sash tied around her waist. It was actually surprisingly well coordinated for Luna.

Colin laughed nervously next to her and Ginny turned her attention to Sean. His tan skin and simple slate robes was a stark contrast to Luna's, their differences accentuated by the fact that he was nearly a head taller. He smiled broadly as Colin and Ginny picked their way through the crowd towards them.

"Hi" Colin said once they had broken through. Ginny had to nudge his foot to stop him from staring up at Sean, although she understood the distraction.

It wasn't long before students began filling out of the hall into the crisp air, cloaks pulled tight around them. The excited atmosphere of the morning had turned tense as Ginny and the others took count of just how many strangers there were wandering the streets of Hogsmead. Locals usually did all they could to avoid the shops when the students were visiting.

"Those are ministry workers." Sean whispered, nodding his head towards the nearest group. Ginny recognized their robes and shot them a dirty look as they passed.

"I don't think _they_ work for the ministry…" Colin said as they approached another group who had a much tougher look about them.

"Must be snatchers." Ginny guessed.

"Aren't they supposed to be out looking for truants? We're all students, the morons." Colin half-scoffed, although he wasn't fooling anyone. Sean and Ginny exchanged a look and their small group tightened slightly.

"They probably work in the Department of Mysteries. Undercover of course." Luna offered.

"You know what Luna, I think you're on the right track this time. Let's get inside." Sean said, steering them towards Zonko's.

They dawdled as much as they could in the shops, moving on only when they became too crowded or they were joined by unsavory patrons. Luna and Ginny did their best at distracting each other and distancing themselves from the boys as they went. All things considered, it was turning out to be a fairly good day.

"Don't be ridiculous, you'd be competing against Florish and Blotts" Ginny could hear Colin's voice as she and Luna emerged from Dervish and Banges.

"Not directly. I mean, yes, but have you ever looked for anything other than a reference book there?" Sean countered "I'm not talking about just a book shop, it'd be like a café, but filled with books for sale."

"But it's already set up as an ice cream parlor, why mess with a good thing?" Colin replied.

"What are you two on about?" Ginny noticed the two of them were reading a parchment hanging on a nearby window.

"Florean Fortescue's place is up for sale, his family doesn't want to keep it. Sean seems to think it's make a decent location for a book shop." Colin answered.

"You can't leave Hogwarts too!"

"Relax, we aren't going to pull a _Weasley_ " Colin said with a wink.

"Dad's wanted to get out of the Ministry of Magic for years now. He's always planned on retiring when Jimmy finished school" Sean explained. "From how he was talking over the summer though, he might put in early. We tossed the idea of opening a shop around, and he offered to help us get started if we're still serious next year."

"Well I hate to say it, but you could probably get it for a steal, not many people are willing to start a business nowadays." Ginny sighed. It was comforting to know that Sean and Colin were looking forward to the future, despite the darkness around them.

"Come on, let's head up to the Shrieking Shack" Colin suggested, taking Ginny's arm. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him tear the sign off the window and slip it into his bag.

As they approached the top of the hill just outside of the village, another group of students came into view. Ginny quickly led Colin and the others off to the other side of the house.

"What's going on with you anyways? You used to be fun!" Pansy Parkinson's shrill voice was carried towards them on the wind.

" _Fun_? What's fun about any of this?" Malfoy shot back. Ginny leaned on the fence and listened intently.

"Leave him Pansy, he's just sore because his father-"

"Don't you say a word about my father, Nott!" Ginny chanced a glance at the group of Slytherins beyond the shrubbery. Malfoy was clutching his wand, although nobody seemed particularly threatened.

"Put it away Draco." Parkinson drawled. It took a moment, but Malfoy did drop his wand arm slowly. He turned away from his housemates and spotted Ginny, staring at her for a moment before the others realized they weren't alone.

"Oh look, it's Dumbledore's little soldiers" Nott laughed, shoving past Malfoy and approaching them, Crabbe and Goyle on his heels.

"Steady…" Colin whispered in Ginny's ear as she straightened herself up. She had managed to avoid the seventh years since her stay in the hospital wing, but now she could feel the heat of her temper boiling inside of her chest.

"Back off Nott." Sean warned, squaring his shoulders and taking advantage of his full height. Nott didn't even break his stride.

"We didn't come here to pick a fight." Colin said, moving in front of Ginny, who had taken an unconscious step towards the oncoming group.

"Tell that to Weasley, it seems like she'd like a re-match if you ask me." Nott laughed. Ginny clenched her fists and felt the colour rise in her face.

"I'd say we're entitled to a fair fight for once. Or maybe you'd like to be the ones _chained to a_ _wall_ this time around." She spat, pushing Colin aside and reaching for her wand.

"If I recall correctly," Nott's voice was dangerously low as a smirk crept over his face. " _You_ didn't do so well even when you _weren't_ in shackles."

Colin and Sean grabbed Ginny to stop her from lunging at Nott, but she shook them off. Luna was now standing next to her, her wand in her hand at her side.

"Come on Theo, they're not worth the trouble." Malfoy shrugged, turning to head back down the road.

"You're not afraid of this lot?" Nott yelled after him, but Malfoy didn't turn around. "Coward" he muttered under his breath.

"That's rich, coming from you!" Ginny spat. To her surprise, Nott's smile only broadened.

"Now now, you shouldn't go falling for Draco, although if he shares the same taste in _mates_ as his cousin, a Weasley just might stand a chance. The Malfoy name's really gone to the _dogs_ if you ask me. Or would it be wolv-"

Ginny's wand slashed through the air, cutting Parkinson's piercing laughter short as Nott shot back ten feet, landing with his hands covering his face.

"You'll pay for that Weasley!" Crabbe threatened, stepping forward and raising his wand as Colin and Sean brandished theirs.

"Oppugno!" Luna's jinx sent the stones at her feet soaring towards the Slytherins, who shielded themselves with their arms as they were struck repeatedly.

"Cru-"

"Protego!" Sean, Colin and Ginny all cast the spell at the same time, cutting off Goyle before he had a chance to finish his own curse.

"Stupefy!" Ginny stunned Nott, who was staggering to his feet.

"Impedimenta!" Luna's jinx stopped Crabbe in his tracks as he lunged towards them.

"Screw this! Filthy Blood Traitors!" Parkinson screeched as she made to pull Nott off the ground. "You'll get yours! Let's see how long your little club lasts once the Dark Lord finds Potter! He'll parade his body _through the streets_!"

Ginny made to lunge forward, but Colin grabbed her around the middle, tackling her to the ground. Parkinson's words were ringing in her ears and she couldn't focus on anything other than the retreating girl's back. Colin's hand covered her mouth as he pinned her down, not daring to loosen his grip until the others were well out of sight.

"Get off!" Ginny spat, shoving Colin harder than she intended to.

"Hey, calm down!" Sean snapped at her as he helped Colin to his feet. Ginny looked up and saw that he and Luna had put themselves between her and Colin and the Slytherins. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and leaned against the fence, staring blankly at her feet.

"Sorry… I" Ginny turned her face up to meet Colin's. "It was an accident." She said lamely before turning to Sean. She was surprised to see that he didn't look as angry as he had sounded moments before. If anything, he looked as sorry as she felt.

"Thanks." She mumbled, drawing her knees up to her chin. Luna sat next to her and began levitating small stones around them, distracting Ginny as she calmed herself down.

"I'm alright now. You guys go on" Ginny said when she looked up and saw that Colin and Sean were still hanging around. Colin offered her a forgiving smile before he and Sean wandered off to walk along the path that was worn into the dirt around the perimeter of the old shack.

As soon as they were out of site, Ginny closed her eyes and leaned back against the fence. Luna must have pulled out a copy of the Quibbler, she could hear the pages turning now and then. Normally Ginny would be discussing the articles, but for now she just wanted the rest of the world to disappear for a few minutes.

It was hard to say how long they sat there before crunching gravel alerted Ginny to Colin and Sean's return. Nobody was talking, but she could hear movement just in front of her and opened her eyes a crack, peaking through her lashes.

"ARRG! Merlin's balls Colin!" Ginny screamed as she was blinded by a bright flash. She blinked repeatedly as laughter erupted around her and Colin, camera in hand, came into focus.

"We thought you were asleep!" Colin managed to say once he caught his breath.

"That makes you even more of a jackass." Ginny groaned as she picked herself up off the cold ground. Colin was grinning as he held his camera in front of him as a shield.

"Come on, it was a good picture!" He said, now fiddling with some of the dials. "As long as you didn't ruin it by waking up." Ginny gave in and smiled back, brushing the dirt off her robes and helping Luna to her feet.

"You two go over there on the lawn, facing the door." Colin instructed as he pointed at the Shrieking Shack. Ginny and Luna ducked under the fence and did as they were told, shifting this way and that as Colin called out to them.

"Here, let's get some pictures of you for once," Sean suggested as the girls made their way back to them a few minutes later. Colin handed over the camera and leaned back, his elbows resting on the fence. As one, Luna and Ginny sprinted the last few feet to Colin and jumped onto the bottom rail on either side of him. Ginny crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out as she grabbed Colin's shoulders for balance.

"Brilliant!" Sean laughed, snapping away. "Let's try with _nice_ smiles this time"

"Now you two!" Luna insisted as she and Ginny hopped back onto the path.

"Luna, it's upside – oh whatever…" Colin shrugged as Ginny stepped out of the frame and Sean took his place next to him.

"Okay now bring it here, there's a timer-"

"COLIN! GINNY!" there was an edge of panic in the distant voice.

"Dennis... Something's wrong." Colin said suddenly, grabbing his camera bag off the ground and bolting towards his brother. The others raced down the hill after him as Jimmy called out for Sean and Luna.

"What happened?" Ginny demanded as soon as the two boys came into view.

"Death Eaters! They're everywhere, blocking the gates." Dennis shouted before turning to run back towards the village.

"How many?" Sean asked, as he and the others drew their wands and began closing in on the pair of fifth years.

"Dunno, they're going in and out of the shops clearing out students." Jimmy answered.

"Demelza said she saw Dolohov and the Lestranges." Dennis added.

"Fuck!" Ginny's robes whipped around her ankles as she tore past the others, a crowd of students now becoming visible at the end of the road.

"Any more behind you?" Flitwick called out as they approached.

Ginny didn't bother stopping. Looking to her left, she could see wizards in Death Eater robes and masks marching in and out of the street, herding the students like cattle. She began pushing her way against the flow of the crowd, working her way closer to the Death Eaters.

People were staring as she shoved past them. The crowd was thinning when she tripped and found herself sprawled on the street for the second time.

"About time you showed up!" Neville called from somewhere to her right.

"There you are!" Ginny said with relief as she picked herself up and made her way over to him. He looked angry, his knuckles white around his wand, but he was there. He was protecting the younger students. A small wave of relief washed over her.

"We were idiots to think this wouldn't happen" Ginny panted as she took a place next to Neville at the edge of the group.

"They think Harry's trying to sneak back into the school or pass along a message from Hogsmead. Using the curfew as an excuse to bully everyone out of the shops." Neville replied.

"Of course they are." Ginny spat.

"McGonagall's at the front with another group of Death Eaters who're bottle necking the gate. Flitwick said they're getting pretty rough." Colin said, appearing at Ginny's side. "The rest of the teachers are trying to keep students together and clear out side streets."

"Take Sean and your brothers to give her a hand. Luna, Neville and I can hold things here for now." Ginny instructed before turning her attention to the Death Eaters now coming out of Honeyduke's.

"You're that nutter's daughter aren't you? The one who runs the Quibbler." One of the Death Eaters said suddenly, approaching Luna.

"So what if she is?" Neville challenged.

"My father is saner than any Death Eater I've ever heard of." Luna answered coolly.

"We have a message for you to pass along _Miss Lovegood._ " The growling voice threatened, walking up to face Luna with two others flanking him. He ignored Ginny and Neville, who had raised their wands in warning.

"You might want to tell your father to think twice before publishing his next magazine" he continues calmly. "Funny things are happening to folks who aren't thinking twice nowadays."

"You heard Professor McGonagall, yer not to speak to the students!" Hagrid's voice called from behind them. Ginny didn't turn around, she kept her eyes fixed on the mask of the nearest Death Eater until they retreated into the Three Broomsticks.


	15. Chapter 15 - Losing by Winning

"Up and at 'em Captain!" Demelza's cheery voice roused Ginny early the morning of their first Quidditch match.

"Morning" Ginny grumbled, nearly tripping as she tried to detangle herself form her sheets. She and Colin had spent half the night on the couch again, and the dawn was only starting to break outside her window.

Ginny dressed in silence. She knew she should be grateful that Demelza was an early riser, but sometimes her sunny disposition made it difficult to like her in the morning. Finally she got her robes on the right way around and the pair made their way to the other dormitories.

"I'll get Christian- Jimmy throws things when he wakes up." Demelza said, ducking past Ginny on the stairs.

The sun had nearly risen completely when the team finally assembled in the common room and made their way to breakfast, brooms over their shoulders. There was a knot of nervous determination tying itself in Ginny's stomach as she spread honey onto her toast a little too vigorously.

"Eat." She ordered Dennis, who looked remarkably like his brother as he stared unseeing at the pitcher of pumpkin juice in front of him. Jimmy chuckled and looked pointedly at Ginny's now abandoned toast.

Ignoring Jimmy, she began weaving her hair into a long French braid to keep it securely out of her face during the match. Demelza had already finished her matching plait and was now working on two smaller braids for Fiona.

"Hey Dennis, your hair's getting pretty long, do you want me to-"

"Fuck off." Dennis growled.

"It speaks!" Demelza cheered amidst the team's laughter.

As the Great Hall became more crowded, Ginny led the rest of the team out to the Quidditch pitch to warm up. Students soon began filling up the stands and the team finally retreated into the changing room. Ginny glanced at her watch nervously as her team mates did final checks on their padding and brooms in silence.

"Almost time then. Remember Chasers, keep the Quaffle moving fast, they can't stop what they can't see. Peakes, Coote, toe the line with those bludgers. Just because they won't play fair doesn't mean we shouldn't." Ginny began reeling on final instructions to all the players as she paced back and forth.

"We need to play fair if we have any hope of keeping this team together. We need to beat Slytherin, but we can't embarrass them, Snape and the Carrows need to think Slytherin has a chance at the cup or they'll find an excuse to cancel matches." She continued. Looking around at the team, she saw faces resigned to disappointment staring back at her.

"That doesn't mean we aren't going to win, if we can win this match _and_ keep Gryffindor in for the House Cup, you'll be far better players than anyone will be able to give you credit for." Ginny explained. How could she make them understand? There was more than just a single game that was at stake.

"Do you know what Quidditch is?" She asked suddenly, stopping dead in the center of the room. She was greeted by blank stares.

"A game?" Fiona offered nervously, making Jimmy roll his eyes.

"It's more than that for us though." Ginny encouraged. "You know what it means for the rest of the school, but for us... Quidditch means there's something more, that there's something after all of this." She could feel the excitement slowly building in her chest as her mouth curved into a smile.

"No matter what they do and what we live through, after all this bullshit is over, we can pick up our brooms and keep playing, because they can't change Quidditch." Ginny continued. She saw Demelza and Dennis straighten up in their seats, a glimmer of determination in their eyes.

"I've wanted to play Quidditch my whole life, and when this war is over I'm going to keep playing. We're all going to keep playing and we're going to be the best team Hogwarts has ever seen because some days, _Quidditch is all we've got!"_ Ginny nearly growled the last words, her team listening with rapt attention.

"The war is still going on outside, and we're still fighting! And this is how we fight it! Now let's get out there and _fight!_ " Ginny pumped her fist in the air as Demelza let out a war cry that could have come from Fred and George.

Grabbing her broom, Ginny led the team triumphantly onto the pitch, each of them buzzing with energy as they emerged into the bright sunlight. The crowd in the stands was unusually restrained, but the Gryffindor team was more than ready.

"Captains shake hands!" Madam Hooch called out as Ginny marched to the center of the pitch to meet Urchart. Ginny's heart was racing with excitement as she stared into the Slytherin captain's arrogant face. Both players kept their hands stubbornly at their sides until they came toe to toe, Ginny's jaw set and her hard eyes boring into his. Almost simultaneously, the two reached forward and, her face set like stone, Ginny grasped his hand.

"Mount your brooms! Three, two, one - " Madam Hooch's whistle pierced the air as fourteen players kicked off the ground and soared into the air. Ginny leaned forward on her broom and raced Urchart towards the quaffle twenty feet above them.

"THEY'RE OFF! New Gryffindor Captain Ginny Weasley has the – and she's passed the Quaffle to Robins, now newcomer Alexan – AND BACK TO WEASLEY!" Seamus' magnified voice was heard across the pitch as he struggled to keep up with the Gryffindor team's speedy passes.

"Back to Alexander again, near miss from a bludger sent by Crabbe, Weasley had the quaffle and already passed to Robins," Each of the Gryffindor chasers seemed to be bent double as they sped forward, whipping the quaffle back and forth as fast as they could.

"Weasley nearing the Slytherin – SCORE! NEWCOMER CHRISTIAN ALEXANDER HAS SCORED THE FIRST GOAL IN THE MATCH! Weasley clearly hasn't been wasting those long hours the Gryffindor team has spent at practice!" All around them, the crowd erupted, but Ginny and the other Gryffindor players kept their eyes peeled for bludgers as they made their way back to the center of the pitch.

"Truly unprecedented moves from the Gryffindor chasers. This match will be setting the bar higher than ever for a Hogwarts Quidditch season!" Seamus's excitement was contagious, but Ginny reminded herself that beating the pants of Slytherin, though it would be incredibly satisfying, could potentially _end_ the Hogwarts Quidditch Season.

"Robins snatches the quaffle, passes to Alexander, Weasley in possession, back to Alexander! Gryffindor's chasers are – Robins – zigzagging, using the – Weasley - Wollongong Shimmy tactic - Alexander passes back to Weasley – Alongside their – Alexander again – increased speed and – Robins takes a bludger to the chest!" Ginny couldn't have done anything, they were so focused on their play, they had to trust their beaters to handle the defense on their own. Demelza looked shaken, but she waved the others on as she caught her breath.

"Weasley just misses catching the Quaffle. Slytherin possession now, Vaisley moving considerably slower than the opposing chasers as he makes his way across the pitch. Passes to Montague, who – oops, maybe you should have practiced those quick back-passes before trying them out in a game!" They had counted on the Slytherins trying to copy them, and Ginny was ready to swoop in as Urchart waited a millisecond too long to react to Montague's pass.

The Gryffindors managed to score another thirty points before Crabbe and Goyle unseated Ginny with a pair of bludgers. She had dodged the first bludger, but she dropped the quaffle mid sloth-grip roll. The second bludger collided with the tail end of her broom and sent her spinning out of control, so she was now hanging from her Cleansweep by her crossed knees alone.

"I'm fine! Go!" Ginny yelled to Christian, who had flown over to help her back onto her broom. She didn't wait to see if he followed her instructions before swinging forward and flipping herself upright.

"Weasley's back in the game, Montague is passing to Urchart, Urchart advancing on the Gryffindor goal posts" Ginny kept her eyes on Fiona as she raced to the other end of the pitch. She hated herself for doing it, but when she caught the Keeper's eye, she shook her head once.

"SLYTHERINE SCORES! New Keeper Belmont misses the save by a niffler hair, bad luck on her first match. The game is forty to ten Gryffindor!" Seamus called out.

Ginny glanced around, but nobody seemed to be paying her any attention. She waved an open hand to Fiona, and anyone who saw the gesture would have thought the Captain was telling her not to worry about the fumble, instead of a signal. They had given the Slytherins a goal, it was a safe bet to let Fiona make the next save unless they were more than fifty points ahead.

It wasn't long before the Slytherin team was down another twenty points, and as Ginny had predicted, they were turning nasty.

"That's Cobbing _and_ Flacking by Slytherin!" Seamus called as the Bletchley punched the quaffle out of one for the rings from behind. Madam Hooch's whistle only blew once though, so she hadn't caught Montague elbowing Demelza as she passed him.

"Alright Robins?" Ginny called as Christian took their penalty shot.

"Fine, but it looks like we were right, they're not taking our new tactics so well." Demelza replied. They both tried to look disappointed when Bletchley managed to save the penalty shot before getting back into the game.

The Gryffindor Beaters were doing their best to unseat any Slytherins who looked likely to fouls their Chasers, but there was only so much they could do. Madam Hooch didn't catch three quarters of them, although that was more of a blessing really.

"Third goal for Gryfindor Captain Weasley, bringing the score up to eighty point against Slytherin's twent – FOUL!" Seamus yelled through his microphone as Ginny felt a bludger collide with her right forearm. There was a sickening crack and Ginny clutched her arm protectively to her chest as the crowd in the stands boo'd the Slytherin beaters.

"Time out! TIME OUT!" Ginny called, not daring to leave her position until she heard Madam Hooch's whistle. When the shrill tone pierced the air, she sped towards the edge of the pitch.

"I don't suppose you have enough sense to sit out the rest of the game?" Madam Pomfrey asked as Ginny approached. She didn't bother to wait for an answer before getting to work. Ginny watched as a soft blue light sank into her skin and her fractured bones felt warm for a moment.

"The pain should subside over the next couple of hours. Do try not to break it again." The matron instructed as she finished.

"I'll do my best. No promises." Ginny replied as she quickly flexed her hand open and closed. There was a dull aching similar to what she had grown accustomed to feeling in her scarred calf each morning, but at least it was mended.

Ginny waved to Madam Hooch who called the game back into play as Ginny mounted her broom and prepared to take off. I seemed to her biggest challenge was proving to be balancing the Slytherin team's delicate egos, the safety of her own players, and the unstoppable urge to win the match with nothing but skill and a sense of timing.

Returning to the center of the pitch, Ginny couldn't help but feel pleased at the drastic change in Urchart's attitude over the past hour.

"Montague with the quaffle, Gryffindor's chasers flying as close as they dare without being cobbed" Seamus narrated.

"Alexander misses blocking a pass to Vaisley – AND VASILEY SCOR - It looks like Creevey's seen the snitch!" Seamus announced, not a moment too soon. "Gryffindor's new Seeker is going for a dive, Slytherin's Harper in hot pursuit!"

Ginny tried to ignore the seekers and continue their play, but the other players seemed just as distracted by the snitch as she was. Especially considering it was nowhere near where Colin was aiming.

"He's feigning! It's back there you bloody idiot!" Urchart called as Ginny watched Colin take a sharp turn to his left, making a b-line for the spot fifty feet below where Harper had been hovering seconds before. Had he got straight for it, Harper would have beaten him to it in half the time.

"What's this? It looks like Creevy's changed his mi – HE'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" The stands erupted as a sea of red and gold jumped to their feet.

"Gryffindor has won by two hundred points! What a match!" Ginny and the rest of the Gryffindor team descended on Dennis, who was showing off with some spectacular backflips.

"We did it!" Demelza cheered as she managed to catch Dennis mid-air and plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Well done everyone!" Ginny said with a grin. She couldn't resist pulling the Seeker into a headlock and ruffling his hair. "Hogwarts gets a Quidditch season now, so next match we're _not_ holding back!" she announced as the other players cheered. Fiona looked especially excited at the idea of putting her new skills to a real test.

"Party in the Common Room!" Jimmy called out as they reached the ground, much to the delight of his housemates. The team bypassed the dressing rooms and made their way back to the castle with the rest of the students, enjoying being slapped on the back as they passed.

"Neville and I can run to the kitchens, any requests?" Colin asked, beaming proudly at his younger brother.

"Treacle fudge! And cauldron cakes!" Dennis called over his shoulder as he was ushered up the stairs by the mob.

"And fire whisky!" Jimmy shouted, many of the others loudly supporting his suggestion.

"I _am_ a Prefect you know" Ginny could just hear Neville mutter as he rolled his eyes and broke away from the crowd, Colin close in tow.

Gryffindor tower soon became the scene of one of Hogwarts's rowdiest parties in recent memory. Students had been so tense since the dismal end to their Hogsmeade visit the week before, that a win on the Quidditch pitch seemed to push them all over the edge. The wireless was blasting an unending playlist of Weird Sisters and students had brought out the last of their sweet stashes to share while awaiting Colin and Neville's promised return.

Ginny found herself thankful that Dennis was getting so much attention, it meant that when the knot in her stomach became too prominent to ignore, she could make her way to the edge of the room and be left to her thoughts. She had only been pretending to flick through _An Illustrated Guide to Legendary Quidditch Plays_ for a few minutes though, before she discovered she was not in fact, alone.

"Doesn't feel quite right, does it?" Seamus asked from the armchair next to her. Ginny slowly closed her book and laid it in her lap.

"No, but, nothing does anymore." She answered. "And I'm glad they're enjoying themselves. I guess this stuff hits people at different times."

The two sat in silence for a few moments as Ginny contemplated Seamus. Now that she thought of it, the only time she could remember Seamus and Dean being apart was when she and Dean were lurking alone in some abandoned corridor.

"Lavender not helping?" Ginny ventured cautiously. The two had been eating meals together on and off over the last couple of weeks.

"That? Nah, her and Parvati just keep sitting with me. Getting annoying to tell the truth." Seamus answered. It was odd, seeing him so downcast. He was usually so full of energy and light.

"Well, you're welcome to sit with us whenever you like. I wouldn't wish Lavender's uninvited company on anyone" Ginny offered. The two glanced up at the girl in question, who was part of a gaggle surrounding Christian.

"I know it won't be like having Dean back, but - "

"Thanks Ginny." She couldn't be sure, but his grateful smile seemed genuine. The two of them sipped butterbeer and discussed the match together, comparing parts of it to previous games, peppering Dean, Ron, and Harry's names in where they could. It was a relief to be able to talk like this again, as if the seventh years weren't on the run, with nobody tip toeing around their names or shooting Ginny glances as if she would burst into tears at the very mention of them.

"About time you two showed up, it's been nearly an hour!" Someone shouted over the din. Ginny looked up in time to see Colin and Neville stumbled noisily through the portrait hole. Ginny had honestly forgotten they had been gone for so long, assuming they had been in a mood to celebrate with the others rather than join her on the sidelines.

"What took you so long? Where's the - "

"Kitchen's closed; the Carrows were bloody waiting for us." Neville explained as Ginny pushed towards them through the now silent crowd. When Ginny got close enough to see them properly, her stomach dropped.

"FUCKING HELL!" She screamed, throwing her empty bottle into the fireplace in a rage.

"It's not that bad Gin! We're alright, just detention tomorrow night!" Colin said, reaching out to her. In addition to the bruising on his face, there was a deep gash on his palm.

Ginny's chest heaved as she felt every pair of eyes in the room boring into her, but she didn't care. Her hands were shaking, her throat was tightening, and the blissful ignorance from the pains in her stomach had suddenly disappeared. She barely dared to open her mouth, unsure of whether she would scream or retch.

Colin stepped closer, ignoring the rest of the students. "It'll be okay." He whispered under his breath, looking shocked at her outburst.

"It's not okay. It's anything but okay." She managed finally, walking blindly through the portrait hall into the empty corridor.

Ginny wasn't sure if it was her conversation with Seamus bringing her emotions to the surface, or the leftover adrenalin from the match that had set her off. It was probably both. Either way, it was nearly dusk when she finally finished her third lap around the lake and slipped back into the Gryffindor tower while everyone else was at dinner.


	16. Chapter 16 - Gone

Nobody mentioned Ginny's outburst the following day, though she did her best to make up for it by having Murlap Essence at the ready when Colin and Neville returned close to midnight. Each of them had red scratches on their hands, spelling out "I must not steal" in their own handwriting.

The truth was, nearly everyone had taken a turn over reacting to one thing or another. In the last Dark Arts class before Christmas break, Jack Sloper went into a cussing rage when Amycus failed to show up for the first twenty minutes of class.

"Find your places! Wands out, bags against the walls!" Amycus' familiar gruff voice greeted them moments later as he strode through the very door Demelza had dragged Jack through only moments before. Instantly, students formed the now-familiar horseshoe around the classroom, their things already stacked neatly behind them.

"Two truants I see." Amycus said with a cruel smile, marking a parchment on his desk. "Double detention for Mr. Sloper and Miss. Robins it is then." Ginny bit her tongue and watched his face shift to disappointment when nobody else went for the bait either.

"Budge together then, we've wasted enough time already!" He snapped, causing Noel, Luna and a few others to shift to their right to fill the gaps. Amycus' eyes darted back and forth from one side of the class to the other, as if he were sizing them up.

After a moment or two, he slapped his wand against the blackboard, filling it with a list of hexes, jinxes and curses. Ginny glanced across the room at Colin suspiciously, but he only shrugged. None of the spells were terribly complicated, in fact Ginny felt a little insulted that petrifying and jelly legs jinxes were listed.

"Pair up with the student opposite you." Amycus said flippantly before pointing his wand at the center of the room sharply.

Ginny suddenly choked, she hadn't expected the sudden gagging sensation in her mouth, but she supposed that was the point. Amycus didn't give them a second glance as he sat at his desk and pointedly ignored them.

Ginny looked at Curtis Bradley, who was directly across from her, appearing as confused as the rest of the class. After glancing at Amycus' brooding figure once more, she motioned for Curtis to have the first go, while she braced herself. Little did Amycus know, but Dumbledore's Army would not be fighting him on this chance to practice nonverbal dueling in broad daylight.

By the end of class, Amycus had barely looked up from his desk, but the students were doing quite well without him. Ginny and a few of the others had devised a system of hand signals they could use to tutor their classmates in silence. Romilda, Curtis and one of the Ravenclaw Chasers had all done particularly well and moved on to more complex spells by the end of the lesson.

Thankfully, Amycus was paying enough attention to sharply dismiss them the second class ended. The students didn't need telling twice, though they were so quiet in gathering their things that Ginny thought for a moment the silencing charm hadn't been lifted. As everyone spilled into the hallway, they began whispering and speculating about Amycus' strange behavior. Nobody could decide if they should feel grateful for whatever was causing him trouble, or concerned that next time he show less restraint and take it out on the students.

"That's it, the beginning of sixteen glorious Carrow-free days!" Colin sighed as they walked into the great hall.

"Have you and Dennis decided where you'll be spending the holidays after all then?" Luna asked. There had been concerns raised on Potterwatch about how safe it would be for Muggle parents to pick their children up from King's Cross this year.

"Dad owled back this morning, he'll be able to pick the four of us up and take you to Muggle London." Jimmy said, appearing across the table from them. "I think you're spending Christmas at your place, then you're all coming over for the last week before catching the train."

Many wizarding families were taking Muggle parents under their wings, and with the Creeveys and Peaks getting so close, it only seemed natural they stick together. Watching the four of them interact, it was sometimes difficult to remember which pair were brothers.

"You'll come visit over the holidays, won't you Luna?" Ginny asked. "It's just me and the twins this year, Bill and Fleur are spending Christmas _alone_ " she said, rolling her eyes dramatically, which sent Colin into a fit of laughter.

"I don't want your perverted images scalded into my brain, thank you!" Ginny added quickly before Colin could regain enough composure to make a smart remark.

"If you really mean it, I'd love to!" Luna exclaimed, missing the exchange between Ginny and Colin.

"Of course I mean it!" Ginny answered, forgetting for a moment how others often treated Luna. "Fred and George want to go see the Muggle Christmas lights in the village, you could come with us and stay over!" She exclaimed, quite determined now that they enjoy themselves.

"Maybe we'll see some Carsies while we're there! They're attracted to electricity, that's why wizards hardly ever see them." Luna explained excitedly as she began ladling out soup for everyone. Ginny felt her face split into a wide smile as she accepted a bowl.

"Well, that'll just add to the excitement then, won't it? We could go Christmas Eve?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, Daddy and I like doing Christmas morning together, I don't think I should miss it." Luna explained.

"The day before then, then if we find any er – Carsies?" Luna nodded at Ginny's pronunciation. "Then you can show your dad before they take the lights down. Are they interesting enough for him to want to document them?"

"Oh yes, Magizoologists, creditable ones anyways, have devoted years to studying them. The trick is not to be caught observing them by Muggles." Luna explained.

"Christmas Lights sound like a perfect excuse then!" With the promise of visits with Luna, Ginny's holidays were starting to sound much less dreary after all.

* * *

"Come on Dennis, you'll miss the train!" Colin hollered up the stairs holding a stack of toast and bacon.

"He can't find any bloody socks!" Jimmy called back, sounding thoroughly annoyed. Dennis had once again managed to sleep straight through breakfast and left his packing to the last minute.

"Hasn't he got socks at home? Everyone's leaving!" Ginny yelled, swinging her bag over her shoulder as Gryffindor students filed out of the common room.

"You go catch up with Neville, tell Sean and Luna why we're late." Colin offered as he checked his watch. Ginny looked around and hesitated for a moment.

"Alright fine, but you'd better be on the train. Nobody's spending Christmas at Hogwarts except a few Slytherins whose parents are too busy being Death Eaters." She answered cautiously. "And if you do miss the train, I'LL BE LOOKING FOR A NEW SEEKER!"

"Sod off, we'll be there in a minute!"

Ginny didn't wait to hear the rest of the curse words the three boys were hurling at each other as she hurried out of Gryffindor Tower and made her way to the entrance hall.

It didn't take long to find the others, who were already starting to drift towards the doors, and they soon found themselves on the grounds with the rest of the students. The closer they came to Hogsmeade though, the more nervous Ginny found herself, especially with Sean checking over his shoulder every few steps.

By the time the first students had reached Hogsmeade Station, the small, interhouse gang was so far behind, they were completely separated from the other students. Yet Jimmy and the Creevey brothers had still failed to show.

"I'm not leaving without them." Sean said stubbornly when they finally reached the platform.

"Of course you're not, none of us are." Ginny answered, her voice on edge.

"I'll let Professor McGonagall know what's going on, I'm sure she won't let the train leave without everyone checked off the list though." Neville offered, vanishing into a mass of students. Luna had already boarded the train to save them a compartment while Ginny waited with Sean, who was now standing on a curb to gain an extra few inches and scan the sparse crowd.

"We should have waited back at the school, they'll try to force us onto the train if we're here" He muttered anxiously.

"No one's forcing us anywhere. Even if they did, we'd find a seventh year to apparate us back." Ginny said with determination. She had no idea how difficult it would be to disapparate from a moving train, but she felt better with a plan. The platform was becoming conspicuously emptier as students boarded the train.

"We can't have missed them, Luna would have come back to tell us." Ginny said after walking to the end of the station and back a third time. The train whistle blew sharply and she and Sean glanced at each other. Professor McGonagall was standing at the engine, her face pointed up towards the Driver, though it was impossible to hear what they were saying. It looked as if she had ordered Neville into a car, as he was standing in the open doorway.

"Hurry up you lot, the train's 'bout to leave!" Hagrid's voice called as his silhouette appeared through the steam that surrounded the platform. Sean opened his mouth to argue when Ginny caught his elbow. It was a good thing she had, as he tried to break into a run as soon as he caught sight of the three significantly smaller figures that had appeared alongside Hagrid.

"Sean!" Ginny yelled, pulling on his arm with all her might. The train's wheels began to turn, but he wouldn't budge. "Get on the damned train!"

She saw Hagrid nearly throw the three boys onto the last car, and Sean seemed to have instantly regained the use of his legs. The two sprinted alongside the now moving train, and Ginny wrenched open the nearest door, grabbing the hand rail.

Ignoring the pain in her calf, she kept pace as the train began picking up speed, hoisting herself in. Ginny spun around and grabbed Sean's wrist, bracing herself against the door. Sean's long legs were moving faster than she'd ever seen them.

"JUMP!" She shouted, yanking on his arm. Sean leapt off the platform and flattened her against the steps.

The two lay immobile for a moment, while students in nearby compartments poked their heads through doors to check out the commotion, and footsteps echoing off the nearby corridor drew nearer.

"Really! I'm glad the two of you will take care of each other if I snuff it, but I was barely gone ten minutes!" Colin said, doing his best to sound scandalized at finding the two of them in on the floor in a tangle of limbs.

"Ten minutes? We thought you'd miss the train!" Ginny scolded, glaring at Dennis, who flipped his middle finger at her from behind his brother. Sean grabbed her by the arm and hoisted her to her feet before she could object.

"It's not my fault, Filch caught us running through the corridors and thought he'd give us a lecture." Dennis protested.

"We were ready to hex him when Hagrid came back looking for us." Jimmy said, sounding thoroughly disappointed at missing his chance.

"Come on, let's find Luna and Neville." Sean said after another tense moment. He looked awkward as he motioned Ginny ahead, walking next to Colin. "I think I'll return your Christmas gift and exchange it for _socks_." He threatened idly.

"Well if that's what you're going to be like, we'll go sit somewhere else." Dennis huffed. "Come on Jimmy, I saw Demelza and the others a few compartments back."

"Isn't Demelza dating Jack Sloper?" Colin asked, his eyebrows raised.

"What? I can't sit with a girl unless she's single?" Despite trying to sound offended, Ginny noticed his flushed face as he and Jimmy turned to walk back along the corridor.

"Hey Dennis," Ginny called, prompting him to glance back at her. "If you duel Sloper, you'd better win."

"Probably for the best, I dropped the toast, so he's bound to be grumpy until lunch." Colin reasoned as the younger two walked off in a huff.

They found Luna and Neville in one of the last compartments at the front, and they rest of the journey was relatively uneventful, although it took some time before Sean was able to relax. With the door locked, blinds pulled, and Muffiato cast, they enjoyed a few hours where they could speak freely amongst themselves.

* * *

Platform 9 ¾ was oddly busy, considering the number of students who hadn't returned to Hogwarts. Many of the adults appeared to have arrived in larger groups than usual, and kept in tight knots, giving suspicious looks to anyone who happened to bump into them.

"Guess your dad's working late" Neville said, pointing out two identical redheads halfway up the platform.

"That or they're handing out coupons for the Joke Shop" Colin's hopeful thought was interrupted as Ginny swore in surprise at a loud bang.

"Apparently nobody sees the need for manners anymore." She muttered.

"Luna!" Xenophilius Lovegood called from nearby.

"Over here Mr. Lovegood!" Ginny called, waving her hand so he could see them through the crowd.

"We're going to find Dennis and Jimmy, Mr. Peakes won't want to wait around in this." Colin nearly shouted. The platform was growing steadily louder with parents calling out.

"LUNA! LUNA!" Mr. Lovegood was only ten feet away now, Fred and George navigating through the crowd next to him. More and more parents echoed Mr. Lovegood's nearly panicked voice, only they were calling out their own children's names.

"I think your dad needs glasses Luna, he's looking straight at us." Ginny said, turning around to face her.

"Luna? Where'd she-?" Ginny's eyes widened as she turned to Neville, who immediately spun around and began pushing his way back to the train.

"Where's Luna? Where is she?" Mr. Lovegood demanded, his eyes wild as he came level with Ginny.

"She was here she was right behind us - " There was a sickening pit in Ginny's stomach as she started to follow Neville, but someone grabbed her arm.

"Don't you move." George's unusually stony face ordered. The change was so severe, she didn't dare to argue.

"Merlin - I heard someone disapparate a minute ago, but I thought - " Ginny felt her throat go dry. "And a Death Eater threatened her in Hogsmeade last month - I didn't think - "

Mr. Lovegood's face blanched and Ginny caught sight of Fred climbing onto a bench to tower over the crowd. It was quickly becoming apparent that Luna was not the only student who had vanished as soon as they had set foot on the platform.

"Oi!" Fred's magnified voice shouted, as all eyes turned to him. "We need to clear the platform! Anyone who _isn't_ missing somebody, take your charges and clear off. Don't take any extra students; you'll only make more panicked parents." Fred instructed. Neville's grandmother had joined them now as well, looking strictly business-like.

"Anyone who's been separated, gather around me. We'll start a search once we know who we're looking for. Come along Xenophilius." Mrs. Longbottom instructed, moving to a clearer space on the platform, her vulture-like hat the perfect beacon.

George kept a tight grip on Ginny's arm as he had her repeat the events from their visit to Hogsmeade and when _exactly_ she heard someone disapparate.

"Was anyone else threatened?" George pressed.

"Not that I saw, but we only got there after most of the students had been pushed out of the shops." Ginny answered, unable to resist constantly scanning the platform. Twice her stomach leapt at the sight of long blond hair.

"She's not on the train, I ran the length of it, twice." Neville said, jogging up to them.

"Ask him a question Ginny." George instructed. Ginny hesitated for a moment, but Neville nodded with encouragement.

"What - I'm sorry, Neville - what did your mother give you on the day I met her?"

"A Drooble's Gum Wrapper." He answered without skipping a beat.

"Right then. Can you aparate?" George asked Neville, apparently content with the answer.

"I haven't taken my test-"

"That's not what I asked." George clarified, his eyebrows raised. Neville understood and set his jaw.

"Yes. And I've been practicing since my birthday."

"Right. Take Ginny home-"

"I'm not leaving!" Ginny protested, suddenly furious. She thought of all people, George would have let her help.

"Stop being dramatic Ginny. He won't be able to get there without one of us." George continued. "Tell mum everything you've told me and help her get things in Order."

Ginny set her jaw and nodded, causing George's face to soften. He leaned in and dropped his voice so no one else could hear.

"I'm sorry, but you know as well as I do that Luna's not in King's Cross. The only hope we have of finding her is to get things organized and call on the rest of the Order." Ginny nodded once and reached out her free hand to grasp Neville's, allowing George to finally let go of her arm. Nobody had said it, but there was still a threat hanging in the air. Any of the parents bustling around the station could easily be a Death Eater, and Ginny would be as good a target to them as Luna.

"Where are we going?" Neville asked as the two watched George disappear into the throng.

"Ottery St. Catchpole, there's an abandoned flower stand halfway up the hill, it's probably as close as we can get." Ginny instructed. She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could on the dilapidated shack as she felt Neville turn sharply on his toes, pulling her into the suffocating darkness.


	17. Chapter 17 - Choices to Make

Molly had been waiting at the kitchen window as Ginny opened the front gate, leaving Neville to disapparate as she vanished through the Burrow's protection charms. Her mother rushed out to meet Ginny in the yard, eyes scanning up and down the street.

"They took Luna!" The words burst from her lips before she could stop them.

"Tell me inside. Where are the boys?" Molly asked, ushering her towards the front door.

"At King's Cross, George sent me back." Ginny explained, counting the steps to the threshold.

"Well that's something at least. Was that Augusta's boy who brought you?" Molly seemed to be speaking to fill the silence, least Ginny be unable to contain herself. When she finally closed the door, Ginny began explaining everything George had told her as quickly as she could.

"I'll send a message, we'll get anyone who's free to King's Cross." Molly said, rushing upstairs. "Put your things away, I'll need your help when I come down."

Ginny hurried to her room and threw her bag onto her bed, changing out of her school robes as quickly as she could. She couldn't imagine she'd be allowed to do anything too helpful, but the idea of sitting still was agonizing. She was relieved when she heard her mother's footsteps on the stairs only moments after she'd begun putting away dishes.

"I've called a meeting for tonight, so whoever can get to the Train Station can fill everyone else in and we can make a plan." Molly explained when she entered the kitchen.

"I'm sure they'll be hungry and it's too cold to eat outside, so we'll all have to squeeze in here. It'll be a tight fit, so let's move anything small into a spare room for now." Mrs. Weasley instructed.

Ginny began hauling anything she could carry up the stairs into Percy's room, taking pleasure in dumping things onto his usually pristine bedspread. She didn't stop moving until she heard the kitchen door open, and rushed forward to meet Fred and Tonks.

"I'm sorry, there's no sign of her." Tonks' voice was soft and tentative and she made her way to a seat near Ginny.

"How many are missing?" Molly asked, absent mindedly stirring a pot on the stove.

"As many as nine, though it's hard to say. We think some may have gone home with friends in the panic." Fred said, kissing his mother on the cheek before taking a seat. "George is taking Xeno home to get settled, I think old Mrs. Longbottom sorted out the rest of them. Hestia and Sturgis are helping her and Neville follow up with everyone tonight and tomorrow in case some turn up."

"Who's missing?" Ginny asked, leaning across the table earnestly.

"Luna's the only name I could put a face to, really. Mostly kids whose parents have gotten on the wrong side of Death Eaters though, from what we've heard." Fred pulled a crumpled flier out of his pocket and scanned the list of names scribbled onto its back.

"Linda Chaddesley, Austin Guthrie, Brendon Halkirk… Ruth Mina, I think her brother Malcolm was in our year…" Fred paused to think for a moment before Ginny prompted him to continue. "Edith Newton, Neil Randall, Tanner Van Burm and… Kevin Whitby"

The room was quiet for a moment as Ginny ran the names through her mind over and over.

"Edith, Tanner and Kevin are in the DA for sure, I'm not surprised if their parents are fighting." She said after a moment. She was reasonable sure Kevin had been one of the boys who was trying to get away when Colin kissed her months ago. "The others could be members, but there's so many now, I'd have to check."

"Maybe it's time to re-think Dumbledore's Army-"

"Don't start that again mum. If Ginny's doing anywhere near as good a job as Harry did, it's probably the only thing keeping those kids _in_ school, let alone preparing them for the world." Fred warned. Ginny felt her heart lighten a little at his words.

"You'll have a full house tonight Molly, can I help bring anything out?" Tonks offered, stumbling to her feet before Molly could reply. Her bump was starting to show, and seemed to be making her more unbalanced than ever.

"No, no dear, you rest" Molly said, a little too quickly. "Ginny, there's a box in Ron's school trunk, bring it down, will you?"

* * *

Austin Guthrie and Neil Randall had been tracked down the following morning. As Fred had suspected, they had been taken in by well-meaning family friends in the chaos.

The Burrow became a hub of activity, yet rooms once again fell silent as Ginny walked through them, much to her annoyance.

"I need another set of extendable ears." Ginny announced after cornering Fred in her room that afternoon. "Mum _cleaned_ my room and found mine."

"Well that'll teach you to let your mother clean your room like a house elf." Fred chided, trying to push past her.

"It's as clean now as it was when I left! Now we both know you're going to lend me some, so don't pretend you aren't." Ginny challenged, her hand outstretched as she blocked the door. Fred grinned and crossed his arms over his chest, taking a seat on his sister's bed.

"I could hex you." She threatened.

"You'd be expelled." Fred scoffed.

"Only if you told the ministry on me." Ginny raised her eyebrows as if it were dare.

"You're not even holding a wand."

"Do you think you could pull out yours before I get to mine?" Fred thought for a moment, as if weighing the odds.

"It'll cost you eleven sickles." He said, relenting. Ginny moved from the doorway and followed Fred to his room, pocketing her prize just as Molly called him down for the meeting. Ginny waited until her mother closed the kitchen door firmly before settling in to listen.

"The Newtons aren't cooperating anymore then?" Kingley's booming voice asked.

"It sounds like the girl was found, but they slammed the door in my face before I could get much out of them." Studgis answered.

"She's alright then?" asked a woman whose voice Ginny couldn't place.

"We're confident she's alive, but they won't tell us anything else." Sturgis said, sounding concerned. Ginny made a mental note to write to Edith, who was in Dennis and Jimmy's year. She could have information that could help them find Luna and the others, and may be more willing to help than her parents were.

"And no word on any of the others?" Tonks asked.

"The Halkirks are the only family so far that doesn't seem to know why their child was taken, but there's an uncle that was close to the boy, he's been causing trouble for Death Eaters up north." Kingsley said.

"Everyone else is ready to give into demands, but we're trying to make sure we go about this properly." Sturgis said, as many around the table muttered.

"We can't expect parents to let their children stay captives!"

"We're not saying that Molly, but if they all give into demands- " Kingsley sounded cautious.

"Then six more children will be spending Christmas with their families!" There was a bang that made Ginny jump.

"And the next time they take a hostage, there will be higher demands, where does it end?" Kingsley asked.

"What if they were demanding information about Harry?" Remus asked, his voice barely auditable. Molly stuttered for a moment before forming an answer.

"So we just abandon them?"

"No, we find them, without putting their families in danger. If we can do that, they're not likely to try again." Remus seemed to be making points that Molly was having difficulty arguing with.

"It sounds to me like you have a few ideas, Remus." Professor McGonagall's voice joined the conversation.

"I do, and I'd like to take an active role, if you're willing to handle the families?" Remus' determined voice calmed Ginny more than she had thought it would. If there was anyone who would go to the ends of the earth for Hogwarts and its students, it was Remus and Professor McGonagall.

"We'll leave the details to the two of you then, let us know if there's anything you need." Kingsley said. "Onto further business, we've received reliable intelligence that Harry, Ron and Hermione were confirmed to be alive and well as of about two weeks ago." Ginny dropped the extendable ear, missing the next few seconds of conversation. Her fingers seemed to have gone numb as she fumbled to cram the end back into her ear.

"Alright, alright, calm down!" Suddenly it was Professor Lupin speaking, not Remus. "We've been hearing rumors of sightings for weeks, but none of them have had any credibility until now. It takes some time to get the information confirmed." It sounded like some of the Order were upset at the delay.

"But where were they? Who saw them? What were they doing?" Molly sounded dangerous.

"We can't say, or at least, the informant can't. And I don't think they should. Harry and the others are absolutely convinced that Dumbledore didn't want anyone else involved." Remus continued. "It isn't much, but we know they're doing well enough, they're making progress with whatever it is they're doing."

"Are we in agreement then that we should release this information on Potterwatch?" Kingley asked.

"Yes, but let's keep numbers out of it. It should be enough to say that the Order has confirmed Harry's still alive. Don't mention how many others he has with him, or a word about Dumbledore." McGonagall said.

"I don't think many people'll be associating Dumbledore's name with the good fight anymore– " The new woman's voice said, just loud enough for those nearest her to hear.

"That may be so, but at _this_ table, we value Albus Dumbledore's word over that of a second-rate gossip columnist." McGonagall interrupted. Silence followed, and Ginny could hear her mother distracting herself by preparing supper.

* * *

Ginny had to be thankful that even Molly agreed it would be cruel to keep her in the dark about the hunt for Luna and the others, though it may have been kinder to do so.

After a few days, the chaos had died down, and Order members would pass through now and then with tidbits of new information, but there were no real leads.

Ginny was finding it difficult to decide what she would say, if anyone had bothered to ask her for her opinion. When she was listening at doors, it was sometimes all she could do not to burst through and demand they allow Mr. Lovegood and the others to give the Death Eaters whatever they asked for. At the same time, Remus' words kept her grounded. She knew the information the Death Eaters gained from releasing the students could expose valuable secrets, Muggle borns in hiding, or worse.

On Christmas Eve, Ginny locked her bedroom door and sat cross legged on her bed, two parcels wrapped in bright Christmas paper laid out in front of her. The larger box, covered in cheerful blue with silver stars, contained a dozen tubes of iridescent paints and a set of handsome brushes. Next to it, the little square package was nearly completely hidden by its red bow. Ginny touched the key around her neck, knowing the other half of the pair was inside.

Since the moment she'd been whisked away from King's Cross, Ginny had been fighting the knowledge that the only way to get Luna back, might be handing Harry to Voldemort. She did nothing to try to stem the silent tears flowing down her cheeks.

Downstairs, they were no doubt arguing over whose life had more value, and deciding who would eventually make the final decision and choose one group of teenagers over the other. Ginny didn't want to know who that decision would fall to, because she knew she would never forgive them.

There was a timid knock at the door.

"Can I come in?" Tonks' voice asked softly from the other side. Ginny's tried to answer, but her throat felt tight, and nothing came out when she tried to speak.

"Just a second." She managed to croak, before coughing and shoving the two gifts under her bed. She'd refused to add them to Molly optimistic little piles outside Ron's bedroom door, as if they'd all appear in their beds Christmas morning.

Wiping her cheeks quickly with the heel of her hand, she glanced at herself in the mirror before unlocking the door to let Tonks in.

"I was worried when you weren't waiting on the stairs after the meeting." Tonks said, sounding a little cheerier after being shown in.

"I didn't want to listen." She answered simply. Molly seemed to be the only one who hadn't accepted that they had not had a private Order meeting since Ginny's return home.

"No?" Tonks asked, plunking down on the spot where Ginny had been sitting seconds before. Ginny looked away and didn't answer, letting an uncomfortable silence creep into the room.

"So, is this anger or depression?" Tonks asked finally.

"What?" Ginny was completely lost as Tonks' question. "Neither, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you, about how you're doing." Tonks seemed unfazed by Ginny's rudeness. The two stared at each other in silence for a moment, before Tonks tried again.

"Ginny," she sighed, looking tired all of a sudden. "It's okay, nobody's expecting you not to grieve, I'd be worried if you weren't."

"I'm not grieving!" Ginny said, suddenly furious. "And I don't know why you'd _expect_ me to, because they're _not_ -!" She couldn't bring herself to say the word _dead_.

"Of course they're not, but they're still gone, at least for now." Tonks rushed to explain. Ginny refused to look at her again.

"I think I've made it to acceptance." Tonks' voice was so quiet, Ginny almost didn't hear. "But sometimes I slip backwards. Mum's still at bargaining."

Ginny suddenly remembered that Tonks' father had gone into hiding over a month ago, and nobody had seen or heard from him since. She took a deep breath and turned back to Tonks, her usual smiling face hidden by a shadow of sadness.

"Do you think they're coming back?" Ginny asked, just as quietly.

"Not tonight. But I think they're the only ones who wish they could be here more than we do." A lump rose in Ginny's throat as she nodded in agreement. She didn't to try speaking.

Tonks smiled at her tentatively before crossing her legs on the bed and picking up _An Illustrated Guide to Legendary Quidditch Plays_ , letting Ginny gather her thoughts before they heard Remus' voice at the door.

"Tonks, you in there?"

"Come on in" Ginny said, thankful her voice hadn't cracked.

"Molly said I should come get you both for dinner, but I think we have a few minutes." He answered, letting himself in and taking a seat next to his wife.

"Did she hear?" he asked.

"No, I was about to tell her though" Tonks answered, sounding more cheerful as she spoke.

"Tell me what?" Ginny's heard had started up again without warning.

"We've made some progress with Luna and the others." Remus explained.

"You found them?"

"Not quite, but we've narrowed the search to a few possible locations. We know three of them are together in one place, but we can't make a move until we know where the others are." Remus explained.

"So they're being kept together?" Ginny asked.

"In two groups, we think, which makes things easier on us. Once we know where the other three are being kept, we can raid both locations at once." Tonks said, her voice now bubbly and full of optimism.

"But if you're wrong? If you go to the wrong place?"

The Lupins looked at each other for a moment.

"That's why we have to be patient. We need to have all the facts before we go forward." Remus said finally. The room was quiet for a moment while Ginny absorbed the information.

"I want to help."

"Well, there may be something," Remus began, scratching his scruffy chin. "How have you been setting the DA meetings this year?"

"Same as before, with the coins Hermione made. It took a while, but we managed to make more, so everyone should have one." Ginny said, digging into her pocket to pull hers out.

"And can yours send messages?" Remus asked, taking it from her to inspect. Ginny nodded.

"And Luna's?"

Ginny's stomach clenched as she stared at Remus. How could she have been so stupid? After cursing Harry for not leaving someone else with a master coin, how could she have done the same thing?

"Hindsight is twenty twenty I suppose. But it's still useful. If any of the DA had their coins with them-"

"They will have, nobody goes anywhere without one." Ginny said, determined that the coins be useful despite her stupidity.

"We'll be able tell them we're coming. They'll be able to prepare as much as they can, even if it's only a few minutes warning when the time comes." Tonks finished her husband's sentence.

Remus took out his wand and pointed it at Ginny's coin for a moment, before handing it back to her.

"Let's keep their spirits up for now." Remus said. "Keep that safe. I'll tell the others I'll need it when the time comes." Ginny looked down and read the inscription around the coins' edge.

 _LC, BH, LL, RM, TV & KW not forgotten_

"That's all we can do for now, we'd better get downstairs for dinner before Molly has to send someone else." Remus reached out a hand to help Tonks off the bed.

* * *

 **A/N:** In keeping with Canon, Ron is spending Christmas with Bill and Fleur. I don't think they would go behind Ron's back and tell the Order where he was, but I do think that Bill would convince Ron to let him pass on that he, Harry and Hermione were continuing on with their mission, omitting of course that Ron had left. Bill invented a "confidential informant" so that nobody would guess he had been in contact with Ron.


	18. Chapter 18 - An Almost Happy Christmas

Christmas morning, Ginny laid in her bed for what felt like hours after she woke up. With her eyes closed, she listened to the sound of the rest of the Burrow waking up, and inhaled the smell of pancakes wafting up from the kitchen. She was willing to bet Sirius' motorcycle that Molly had stayed awake all night, watching out the window for her youngest son and his friends.

But she didn't want to think about her mother staring out the window. Instead, she let her mind wander. She tricked herself into hearing what Christmas morning should have sounded like.

Blankets would rustle as Hermione rolled over on her cot, no doubt sleeping in after they had stayed up half the night sharing butterbeers with the boys. Floors above them, Ron would be the first one to wake and start tearing open his gifts, as he had been since they were children. Together, he and Harry would make enough noise to rouse the rest of the house.

"Honestly, you'd think they were eight years old…" Hermione would grumble, trying to muffle the noise with her pillow. But it wouldn't do any good, and they would have to accept defeat and get dressed before the boys made their way downstairs.

"Oh good, you're up!" Ron would say, bursting through Ginny's door presumptuously, sitting on Hermione's cot. Maybe he'd kiss her good morning? Either way, Hermione would smile and roll her eyes, passing him a half-eaten box of Cauldron Cakes.

"Happy Christmas" Harry's smile would wipe away any smart remark Ginny was about to make about Ron.

"Happy Christmas" she would giggle, ruffling his ever-tousled hair as he leaned in to press his lips against hers.

"Oi!" Even Ron's indignant protests couldn't spoil this morning though. They'd finish opening the girls' presents and make their way downstairs, the four of them dressed in matching Weasley jumpers. Each of them would take turns hugging Mrs. Weasley in thanks before sitting down to breakfast, their plates stacked high with blueberry pancakes.

Charlie would be the next one to come down, his short hair sticking straight up at every angle, and his striped pyjama shirt sticking out from under his navy jumper. Charlie's one annual rebellious act against his mother was to see how long he could stay in his pajamas on Christmas. When Ginny was six, he managed to make it all the way to Christmas dinner, with his siblings running interference every time Molly would start in on him.

"HAPPY CHRISTMAS!" Fred and George would chorus at the top of the stairs, bounding down and sitting on either side of Charlie.

"Mitts off!" Charlie would say, stabbing Fred's hand with his fork. Fred would swear, but reach for the much safer, fresh stack of pancakes Molly set in front of him instead.

"Anything good in the paper, Dad?" George would ask Mr. Weasley, sitting at the end of the table. Arthur would comment on some trivial news, but that would be all. No deaths or names of missing or wanted wizards, and no phony cover-up stories.

Bill and Fleur would probably arrive closer to lunch, just in time for Fleur to interfere with Molly's cooking Christmas dinner. Some argument would arise about which side of the turkey should face up, and everyone else would retreat outside.

The only war on anyone's mind would be one fought with snow balls, which Percy would lose badly. He would get his revenge by pouncing on Fred, and facewashing him from behind. By the time they the cold and wet drove them back inside, there would be a roaring fire ready for them to thaw in front of before dinner.

At the end of the night, everyone would stay up late again, their bellies full of Christmas pudding and their heads pleasantly fuzzy and empty of worry. Ginny would be curled up next to Harry on the floor of the sitting room, feeling herself drift off, her head tucked into the pocket of his shoulder.

"Happy Christmas." Molly's voice, though barely above a whisper, jerked Ginny back to reality, and the carefree images disappeared as she opened her eyes.

"Happy Christmas, mum." She answered, sitting up and stretching. Molly smiled convincingly before bustling upstairs to Fred and George's room, leaving Ginny to get dressed.

"Well Arnold, this Christmas may not be what we're used to," Ginny mused, opening the bottom drawer of her dresser and digging to the back. "But we should try, for mum."

Finally, she pulled out a pair of barely worn, striped pajamas. They were still a few sizes too big, but Ginny tied the drawstring tight around her waist and made sure to pull the cuffs and collar so they poked out from under her jumper before going down for breakfast.

* * *

"Hey mum," Ginny asked, a few days before the end of Christmas break. "The clutch on the motorcycle needs adjusting again, do you mind if I take it down to Mike's?" She hoped her voice sounded casual, she'd been waiting ages for the perfect moment to ask.

"Can't you do it here?" Molly didn't look up, but that could have been a good sign.

"I can, but I adjusted it in September, so I don't think I'm doing it right. It shouldn't need to be done again so soon." Ginny had toed every line all week, at least when Molly was in the room. Avoiding arguments was her best chance of regaining some freedom, and hopefully returning to Hogwarts at the end of the week.

"I'm sorry dear, I don't want you going into the village on your own." Molly answered. Ginny had anticipated this, and jumped at her chance.

"I wouldn't go alone. Remus was saying he'd like to have a go on the bike, so I thought he could take me down before the meeting tonight?" Ginny tried to stay as casual as possible. Molly wouldn't feel any more inclined to let her go if she heard whining. Ginny waited with baited breath as her mother shuffled through a stack of papers at the kitchen table.

"You wouldn't be gone more than an hour?" She asked, finally looking at her over the top of her reading glasses. Ginny bit her bottom lip to stop herself from grinning with excitement. Being so close to freedom after nearly two weeks of not being allowed outside the yard was making it hard to contain herself.

"At the absolute longest." Ginny promised. Molly stared at her silently for another minute before turning back to her papers.

"Alright then. _If_ they get here before dusk, and _only if_ he wants to take you." Molly relented. "I don't want you guilting him into it though." She warned. Ginny barely remembered to thank her before sprinting upstairs to change into jeans and one of Bill's old dragonskin jackets.

Ginny packed and re-packed her bag with tools she thought they would need. Mike of course had most of them, but they tended to feel bulky and cumbersome in her smaller hands, so she preferred to use her own when she could.

"Molly said you want to coerce me into riding on your death trap?" Remus asked as he walked into the yard that afternoon.

"Unless you're chicken?" Ginny teased. She had pulled the bike out of its little shed and balanced it near the back gate.

"Only of what my wife will do to us if we die in a muggle motorcycle accident." Remus chuckled. Ginny's spirits lifted, knowing he was in a good mood. With any luck, she would be overhearing good news before the end of the night. Ginny passed him a spare helmet and her key, shoving her full-face helmet onto her head.

"Have you ridden before?" She asked, her voice muffled.

"Not for nearly twenty years. You might want to hold on." Remus instructed. He slipped his wand into his right boot and swung his leg over the seat, waiting for Ginny to climb on behind him.

Ginny gripped the bottom of the seat behind her, and was thankful for her ability to balance as they started down the street. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea to let Remus drive before the clutch had been fixed, but they did eventually make it to the run down shop at the end of main street.

"That's it there!" She shouted as Remus steered the bike towards the dilapidated building, its "open" sign making its familiar buzzing noise as it flickered on and off. Ginny jumped off the bike, thankful for solid ground, and stepped inside.

"Mike?" she called. There was a clanging in the back room, and he emerged a moment later.

"You're not on your own, are you?" He asked, before catching sight of Remus, who was inspecting the contents of one of the shelves. Ginny introduced them, and led Mike outside to start working on the bike. It didn't take nearly as long as she had hoped for Mike to figure out what she was doing wrong though, and soon she was worried that Remus would rush her home now that the work was done. Remus however, seemed completely content to continue reading fliers pasted on the shop windows while Ginny and Mike caught up on the last few months.

"So what's your team?" He asked, motioning to the snitch Ginny had carefully copied in gold paint next to the petrol cap.

"Holihead Har-" Ginny froze and turned to him, her eyes wide in shock. If he hadn't just helped her fix a clutch cable on a muggle motorcycle, she would have assumed he was a Death Eater in disguise.

"You're a…" She stuttered, unable to believe her ears.

"I'm not a wizard, no." His answer was offhand, as if he was telling her that she was turning a wrench the wrong way. "My brother was, and my niece of course."

Ginny didn't know what to say. She had spent half her summer at his garage, and he had never let on that he knew anything about the wizarding world.

"I guessed you were too, but I wasn't sure until I saw that snitch. My brother played at school, he never shut up about it when we were teenagers." Ginny was struggling to wrap her head around what she was hearing.

"I never thought about the muggle siblings before…" She said finally.

"Nobody much does, I gather. Until wars break out, that is. My niece was about your age the last time." His voice had gotten quiet, and Ginny knew he hadn't spoken about the magical side of his family in years.

"But they didn't care how old she was, she was just another witch standing in the way of _his_ plans." Ginny wasn't sure what to say, or if she should say anything at all.

"I heard he's back?" He asked, looking over Ginny's shoulder. She hadn't noticed that Remus had walked over and had heard their conversation.

"He is. You've kept in contact with wizards then?" Remus asked.

"Nah. But I saw the signs coming back, things my brother used to talk about before. And we have our ways of keeping up on your news, same as you have yours." Mike stood up and brushed his hands on his jeans, though it was hard to tell which had more grease on them.

"We've put some basic protection charms around town, but if you're in the know, there's more we can do if you'll let us." Mike grunted, apparently accepting Remus' offer.

"You should get her home though." He said, looking up at the sunset. Ginny began cleaning up their work area while Remus made arrangements to come back after dinner to put more protection charms around Mike's shop and the flat he lived in upstairs.

Ginny was torn between wanting to stay at the garage with Mike for hours, and getting home, where the Order was surly starting to gather. She didn't have long to contemplate the choice she didn't actually have though, as Remus was soon sitting astride the bike and fiddling with the clasp on his helmet.

* * *

Twenty four hours later, Ginny found herself pacing the length of the living room for the fifty-seventh time since Remus, Fred, George, Arthur and a half dozen others had left the Burrow.

"You're making me dizzy" Tonks moaned from the couch. She was pouring over the maps and charts that were usually swept out of sight before Ginny was allowed to enter a room.

"Sorry. I don't know how you can sit though, aren't you worried?" Ginny asked, picking up a motorcycle magazine, which she barely opened before chucking it back in the pile.

"They'll be fine, Ginny. We'll catch them off guard, and everyone will be home before you know it." She replied. Ginny decided it was best not to comment on the fact that she hadn't actually answered her question.

It was a repeat of June, only now there was a third witch trying to distract herself in the sitting room of the Burrow.

"Tell me the plan again." Ginny said, turning to Tonks. She could already recite it by heart, but it was the only way she would be able to sit still.

"Kingsley is taking the first group to the Rosier Estate." Tonks began, shuffling through the pages in front of her and pulling out a map marked with a large manor and several smaller outbuildings.

"So that's Kingsley, dad, Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle and Hestia Jones." Ginny recited.

"Right. The students are being held in the old gardener's cottage." Tonks continued, tapping one of the small squares with her wand. "We're expecting them to have security around the perimeter of the Estate, but nothing specific to the cottage. So once they get through the gates, Kingsley and Elphias will distract any Death Eaters at the main house, while Arthur, Hestia, and Dedalus get the children over the fence. They'll apparate to my mother's house, and then be apparate to safe houses with their families when they're sure they aren't followed." As she spoke, green dots representing Death Eaters moved towards two larger red dots, while three more took a wide circle towards the cottage, leading three yellow dots safely off the edge of the map.

"And while they're at the Rosier Estate, Remus, Fred, George, Hargid, Sturgis Podmore, and Ruth Mina's brother Malcolm will be at the abandoned Crouch house." Ginny said, pulling another map out of the pile for Tonks to charm.

"This group is most likely in the house itself. Barty Crouch had enough security spells on his son's bedroom to keep a fully grown wizard imprisoned for years, so the Death Eaters wouldn't have to add much to keep three teenagers captive." Tonks tapped the second map with her wand, and three orange dots glowed in a small upstairs bedroom.

"Fred, George and Malcolm will fly up to the window and stick some of their _defective_ fireworks through the window while the others distract the Death Eaters at the front of the house." Ginny felt her lip twitch when Tonks mentioned the fireworks. Far from being defective products, Fred and George had recently discovered a recipe for some small scale muggle explosives, which the house would not be protected against.

"Once they blow the window, they'll fly off into the neighbouring yard on broomsticks, and disapparate to your aunt's house, then to safe houses. The Burrow will be Luna's safe house, and they'll bring Ruth here to meet her brother if she isn't at the Crouch house." Tonks finished. Ginny put the maps side by side again, watching the dots repeat their pattern smoothly and without fault over and over again. The knot in her stomach was twisting as she counted all the ways the plan could go wrong.

Three loud bangs outside the front window made them all jump, and Ginny was the first to her feet, sprinting into the yard.

"You're late!" She shouted crossly as she raced across the yard towards her father. "Did you get everyone?" A second year girl with a long tangle of curly brown hair was gripping Arthur's arm, her eyes closed so tightly that her whole face was scrunched up.

"We did. Dedalus and Hestia are taking Tanner and Linda to their safe houses to get settled in." Kingsley said, looking completely composed. Ginny felt a twinge when Luna's name wasn't mentioned, but quickly turned her attention to the girl attached to Arthur.

"Are you alright, Ruth?" She asked, crouching down slightly. Very slowly, Ruth relaxed her face and peeked out from her lashes.

"Apparating isn't as fun as it looks, is it?" She asked, helping her father to gently prise Ruth's fingers open. Ruth shook her head mutely, and her mass of knotted hair swinging back and forth with her. Molly had arrived and was fussing over everyone, pushing a glass of firewhisky into Elphinias' hand.

"Would you like to come inside? My mum makes the _best_ hot chocolate." Ginny asked softly, but Ruth didn't answer. Instead, she was looking around them wildly, searching for someone.

"Malcolm will be back soon, he was looking for you with my brothers." Ginny said, understanding her reluctance to move inside. "Come on, we'll put a chair by the window so you can be the first to see him when he gets back. Aren't you cold?"

"My nose is numb." Ruth said suddenly. Ginny was so wound up, she had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"Mine too." She whispered back, taking Ruth's hand and leading everyone else inside with them.

 _Luna's with Fred and George._ _She's safe. She probably has a wand by now._ Ginny told herself over and over again. _I'm scared half to death, and she's probably having the time of her life getting back at a couple of Death Eaters. She's with Fred and George._

Ginny set Ruth up at the window with a mug of hot chocolate as she promised, and took up the post next to her. She'd taken a comb from the bathroom and started to ease out the worst of the knots, glad for the excuse to do something productive while staring out the window.

Shadows kept moving and catching her eye, and both girls nearly jumped through the window when Dedalus and Hestia appeared twenty minutes later. When their mugs were empty and the comb had won its battle, there was no more excuse to stay in the kitchen, but neither Ruth nor Ginny cared.

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK!

"They're back!" Ruth yelled, her mug shattering on the floor as she flew off her chair. Ginny caught sight of three dark figures on the street before she raced after the younger girl.

CRACK!

CRACK!

"Ruth, no! Wait!" Ginny called, grabbing her at the door to let Kingsley, Arthur and Molly through first. "That's too many, something's wrong" Ginny breathed, following her parents into the yard.

"RUTH!" Ginny was nearly knocked over by Malcolm, who had barrelled past her and wrapped his arms tightly around his sister. Remus walked past the pair to embrace Tonks, who had just sprinted out the door. Ginny scanned the rest of the group.

"Where are they?" she demanded, and all the new arrivals fell silent.

"Where's Luna?" she repeated, looking to Fred and George for help. "You should be bringing the Kevin and Brendon their safe houses! Luna should be HERE!"

"Ginny…" Fred stopped and looked at his brother with desperation, but Ginny didn't care.

"WHERE'S LUNA?"

"The house was full of Death Eaters." George explained. Ginny barely noticed how pale they both looked.

"Is she okay? Was she even _there_?" Ginny felt dizzy. Everyone had been so sure it would work.

"They were moved out of the bedroom, into the cellar." Remus said, walking back to the group with Tonks. "I don't think they knew we were coming, we seemed to have interrupted a dozen Death Eaters meeting together for some reason."

"When we realized they weren't in the upstairs bedroom, we went around to the front of the house to fight our way in." George continued. "We saw them move Luna and the two boys into the cellar through a window."

"There were too many." Ginny had never heard Fred sound so lost. While the others began discussing details of what they had seen and heard at the Crouch House, Ginny felt a sudden desire to tear Sirius' motorcycle back into a million pieces.


	19. Chapter 19 - One More Thing to Fight For

Ginny had been dreading the inevitable argument over whether or not she would be returning to Hogwarts in the New Year, but it never happened. The morning after the rescue attempt, she came down for breakfast in her school robes, her packed bag slung over her shoulder. She was prepared to go whether her parents approved or not.

When she and Arthur arrived on Platform 9 ¾, she said as hurried of a goodbye as she could before boarding the nearly empty train. They had arrived with plenty of time, so she had first pick of any compartment. Instead of hunting for one with the comfiest seats, she dropped herself into the first one she came across.

She felt numb, and her head was foggy and aching as she rested her forehead against the cool glass of the window. She was vaguely aware that more students were arriving and that she hadn't closed the door, but nobody came in. And who would?

Luna was locked in Barty Crouch's cellar, and she couldn't imagine Colin and Dennis would be returning. Sean and Jimmy would go with them of course; their parents had talked about taking refuge with relatives in Canada if things got bad enough. Maybe Neville would come back. He was of age, and his grandmother still supported Professor McGonagall and Hogwarts.

Ginny looked down at the coin she was twirling in her fingers, but avoided reading the inscription Remus had helped her put together. It bore only the initials of the three rescued hostages and the word _safe._ It may comfort those who knew Ruth and the others, but it made Ginny feel sick. Neville would know what it meant; that Luna was still being held hostage somewhere, and, he _was_ of age… maybe he wouldn't come back either. He would leave like Harry, Ron and Hermione had, to fight with the Order instead of their classmates. She would ride to Hogwarts alone, with the compartment door wide open, but there would be nobody left to sit with her.

She wasn't sure how long she sat alone before the sound of the door sliding closed made her look up. She had been so lost in her head, she hadn't noticed that Colin, Sean and Neville had all sat down around her.

"You came back?" she asked, hardly able to believe it. She might have been glad that they hadn't left her, but the solemn looks on each of their faces told her they were afraid of what she might tell them.

"Course we did." Colin said, trying to sound offhand. "We wouldn't have gone without saying goodbye." He was sitting across from her, his head cocked to the side, trying to meet her eye.

It took a few false starts, but eventually Ginny was able to tell the others what had happened since Luna had been taken. She found herself going into every detail, as if explaining it would make them understand how hard they had tried, what everyone had been doing to find her.

When she started retelling what she had seen and heard the night before, she could feel her hands start to shake, but she couldn't let herself stop. She jerked away when Colin reached over to touch her forearm, unwilling to let him distract her until it was over.

"Is she still there?" Neville asked when Ginny finally fell silent.

"They'll have moved them by now." Sean offered solemnly when Ginny failed to respond. Her whole body was tense, and she doubted she could have answered if she wanted to. She stared mutely out the window, unaware of the others motioning silently behind her, fighting with every ounce of strength she had not to let the emotions she had stirred up rise to the surface.

"We told Jimmy and Dennis we'd let them know what you told us." Sean said somewhere far away. Neville added something about patrolling with the other Prefects, and Ginny became dimly aware that they had slipped into the corridor without another word.

Slowly, Ginny felt the walls she was desperately trying to build up fall, brick by brick. She wasn't sure if her hands had ever stopped trembling, but her legs had started now too.

"Ginny, you need to breathe." She realized that Colin hadn't left with the others, and he was reaching forward to grasp her shoulders. Ginny stood up suddenly, knocking his hands away, but now he was between her and the door, and she had nowhere to go.

"Slow down, look at me," Colin pleaded.

She didn't want to look at Colin though, she wanted to look up and see Luna. She wanted to listen to Luna talk about all the ridiculous magical properties she's imagined Arnold had. She wanted to hear Harry tease her about beating her at Quidditch over Christmas, and feel him wrap his arms around her from behind. Hell, she wanted Ron to ruffle her hair in that annoying way used to, when he was reminding everyone that she was _his_ little sister.

Her breath was coming out in short bursts; she could feel the panic rising in her chest, painfully trying to tear its way out. Ginny stared down at her hands, which were stiff and shaking, desperately trying to regain control. This felt worse than the imperious curse, because there was no false feeling of peace. She was completely aware of how little control she had over her body, and she _needed_ to have control back.

Ginny did the only thing she knew she could manage on her own, and lowered herself to the safety of the floor. Colin followed her down slowly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as she leaned into him. Once safely on the ground, Ginny felt the panic shatter, and she pressed her face into Colin's chest to muffle the sound of her grief.

It was a long time before either of them said anything coherent, but eventually Ginny began untangling their limbs, noticing that Colin's eyes were red as well.

"Won't Sean and Neville be back soon?" She asked after a few steadying breaths.

"Sean was going to do a few laps of the train with Neville, they'll be a while" Colin answered, brushing her hair off her face. Ginny relaxed and turned to face him, leaning against the front of the seats with her knees folded against her chest.

Gradually, they began talking, until they were deep in distracting conversation, planning exploits for the DA to get up to in the New Year.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding," Neville said, holding up his charmed galleon as he walked into the compartment twenty minutes later. "You marked the coins with five fifteen in the morning! In the Entrance Hall no less!"

"Curfew lifts at five, we'll have lots of time to get there" Ginny said, brushing him off. Neville looked to Colin for explanation.

"They've doubled patrols at night, so no Security Wizard or teacher is going to be around that early, we'll have the place to ourselves." Ginny explained. "We'll need one of the girls from Luna's dorm to get some things out of her trunk though."

"Dennis is going to kill us." Sean muttered, dropping into the seat next to his boyfriend.

"Not once he sees what we're doing!" Colin grinned back.

* * *

At quarter to five the next morning, Demelza and Ginny began rousing their fellow Gryffindors, and slowly the common room filled with groggy students trying not to nod off on couches. The Quidditch team and a few who hadn't made tryouts were leaning on their brooms. At five o'clock, Ginny, Colin, and Neville climbed through the portrait hole, leaving the others to follow in small groups.

Sean was waiting for them, surrounded by sleepy Hufflepuffs, who had a much shorter walk than the other houses. As the more of the DA stumbled in, someone had enough sense to bring out pots of tea and coffee from the Great Hall.

Ginny took Luna's bag from one of her classmates and handed paint brushes out to Colin, Neville, Sean, and a few others. Taking her lead, students began pulling out their own brushes and pots of paint and ink, though they still looked at each other with confusion.

Ignoring the questioning looks, Ginny mounted her broom, and rose into the air. When she was hovering just over everyone's heads, clutching her brush and a bottle of brilliant blue paint, she took a deep breath.

"We've lost a lot of people in the last three years." Ginny began steadily. She kept her voice low, but every eye had turned up to her. "We'll never forget a single one of them. We're going to make sure everyone remembers the names of those who have been lost, taken, or killed."

There was a quiet murmur in the crowd below her as Ginny flew higher, and began painted Dumbledore's name above the door.

All around the hall, others had mounted their brooms, were hanging off bannisters, charming paint brushes, or standing on tip toe to add the names of their loved ones to the walls. Ginny smiled to herself and began adding the names of Sirius, Mad-Eye, Ted Tonks, and Emeline Vance.

Owen Cauldwell's pale face was determined as he scribed Kevin Whitby's name in bold, capital letters next to Ernie McMillan, who had proudly traced Cedric's name in gold. Susan Bones had bordered her aunt's name in two plain black crosses, while Neville had painted Luna's name in a shimmering blue that seemed to give off a pale glow.

Ginny landed and looked around, noting names like Rufus Scrimgeour, Florean Fortescue, Mr. Ollivander, and of course Charity Burbage, all of which she had expected to see. There were more names that she wasn't sure would appear when they started; Bertha Jorkins, Bathilda Bagshot, Broderick Bode, Dirk Cresswell and Barty Crouch Sr's deaths had nearly all been swept under the rug. But somebody noticed each of them.

Of course, the names of the other six missing students were staring down at them, but they were next to the names of Dean Thomas and countless other muggle borns who had been unable to return to Hogwarts.

Slowly, most students began creeping back towards their common rooms, though a few strayed behind, or decided to have an early breakfast.

"Thanks, Ginny" Hannah Abbot's voice was barely above a whisper. If she hadn't said her name, Ginny would have assumed she hadn't meant to be heard. Ginny turned to look at the seventh year, but Hannah was gazing up at her mother's name.

"I don't think I would have come if I'd known, but I'm glad I did." Hannah said, turning to face Ginny. She was smiling a little, but her eyes were damp. "It's good to see her up there." Ginny watched as Hannah made her way down the hall towards the Hufflepuff common room, her girlish pigtails long gone.

Alone now, Ginny turned to go back to Gryffindor Tower, when her eyes fell on Harry's name. She wasn't sure how she'd missed it, scrawled at eye level, next to the door to the Great Hall. She swallowed a small lump in her throat as she let her fingers brush across it, recognizing Colin's hand writing.

* * *

Despite having to go return her broom to the girls' dormitory, Ginny and many of the others were still absurdly early for breakfast. This meant that they got to witness the rest of the school pass through their work on their way in.

Reactions ranged from pride, to confusion, to annoyance amongst the students and staff, but regardless, it was the only topic of discussion in the Great Hall that morning. All around the hall, the names of the warriors, the missing, and the lost were passed back and forth. Some, like Cedric Diggory's, were repeated with an undertone of sadness and pride. Others, like Sirius' and Bode's, were topics of confusion and interest.

"You did good" Colin murmured, resting his head on Ginny's shoulder. Like the rest of the DA who had shown up, they were both exhausted and exhilarated as they watched their classmates over breakfast.

" _We_ did good." Ginny corrected him, finishing her second cup of coffee and smiling down at him. For the first time in weeks, Ginny felt like she was helping again, like she was useful.

A loud bang at the end of the hall made everyone jump and whip their heads towards the doors. Professor Snape, who usually entered through one of the antechambers near the head table, had clearly been told of the graffiti and come to see for himself. He slammed both doors closed as he glowered at the students before him.

"WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!?" he demanded, his voice echoing off the rafters. Behind him, Alecto, Amycus, and Filch looked furious and eager as they scanned the room for the perpetrators.

The hall became deadly silent; Colin had sat straight up, though he grasped Ginny's hand tightly. She'd never seen Snape so livid and could hear blood pumping in her ears. Cold, black eyes flashed from one group of students to the next, Snapes' whole body expanding with every furious breath.

Before Ginny could think better of it, she pulled her hand from Colin's and stood up, facing the Death Eaters. Her body felt rigid as she set her jaw and met his eyes from across the room.

Students would later swear that Snape had managed to close the twenty foot space between himself and Ginny Weasley in only three strides. He stood across the half empty table from her, seething with anger.

"I should have known." Snape hissed, his voice dangerously low now. "Fifty hours detention, starting tonight." Ginny refused to move a muscle.

"It will double every time I have to ask who helped you." He seemed to be saying this more to the rest of the hall. He knew better than to expect cooperation from the girl standing before him.

"I acted _alone_." Ginny responded fiercely. Again, she was not speaking to the man whose eyes she held locked with hers, but to every student who had joined her before dawn. As she held Snape's gaze, she could feel heat rising in her chest and face as a calm fury settle in.

She half expected the others to defy her, but the hall remained silent, as though Ginny and Snape were the only two who existed.

"One hundred hours detention then." Snape replied maliciously, searching Ginny's face for any sign on weakness. "And, you'll be banned from visiting Hogsmead, indefinitely."

At this, Ginny looked at him incredulously, her mouth opening slightly, as if she were about to laugh.

"You _really_ don't get it, do you?" Her mind was raging, but her words came out cold and calculated. "Those names out there aren't just some monument for the people you've taken from us. It's a reminder that we can see _every day_ , so that we _never_ lose sight of what's important." Ginny didn't know if Snape tried to interrupt her or not, but she wasn't stopping now.

"And _every time_ you take something away" she continued "you're just giving us _one more thing to fight for."_ She spat the last words out and glared at him, her chest heaving with every breath, daring him to answer her. Only when his eyes flicked down for a split second did she realize she held her wand in one of her tightly clenched fists, poised at her waist. Despite this, Snape took another step towards her, resting his own hands on the Gryffindor table as he leaned across pitchers of pumpkin juice and plates of scrambled eggs.

"You're going to need _every reason_ we give you if you think you have _any chance_ of coming out of this alive." Snape snarled his threat under his breath, so that not even Colin and Neville could hear.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, so I've gotten a couple people questioning Snape's last line in this chapter, but I stand by it. It's a balancing act to show little bits of Snape having difficulty with what he's being forced to do, while still seeing the story from Ginny's POV, where he has to act like a Death Eater. Snape's always been a very believably evil character for students, and JKR has him say and do a lot in canon to confuse readers about who's side he's on. He meant for her to hear it as a threat (to keep up appearances) but to use it as fuel to keep the student's rebellion alive.


	20. Chapter 20 - Fortress

"You're done." Ginny heard Alecto say behind her. She didn't bother swallowing before turning to answer.

"Uff 'ou shay sho"

With a look of disgust, Alecto slapped Ginny upside the head, causing her to cough a mouthful of half-chewed Spaghetti Bolognese down the bottom of the older woman's robes. A chorus of groans and cheers erupted from those nearest to them.

"Revolting girl!" Alecto hissed, grabbing Ginny by the arm and pulling her from the table.

"Sorry, my manners seem to have slipped since I started spending three hours a day with Death Eaters." Ginny's snide remark earned her a cuff on the ear, but at least her arm was freed from Alecto's grip.

"Better with us than your Blood Traitor parents." Alecto spat back. Ginny let herself laugh aloud as she was marched out of the Great Hall.

"What difference do my parents make? Haven't I told you?" Ginny asked arrogantly as she watched the colour rise in Alecto's face. "I'm probably the biggest Blood Traitor you've ever met! I should tell you about my motorcy - " She was cut off by Alecto's slapping her, and could feel her ring leave a cut next to her ear.

Ginny grinned, wincing only a little as Alecto took hold of the back of her neck and steered her roughly towards Filch's office. At first she thought the caretaker would finally be making good on his constant threats to leave her hanging by her wrists overnight. Her only morbid thought was that at least she would finish her hundred hours in a little over a week.

"You'll be needing those." Filch instructed, jerking his head towards two large crates next to the door, which Alecto had just slammed shut. At the last minute, Ginny thought better of using magic and hoisted the crates into her arms.

Filch muttered under his breath continuously as he led her through the castle, ignoring several shortcuts Ginny knew he would have used if he had been the one carrying the heavy crates. Her arms were burning by the time he finally stopped, but she stubbornly stood holding her load until he told her where to set it down next to the grand staircase in the Entrance hall.

She had noticed that more names had been added on her way in for dinner, but in her rush to eat before detention, hadn't stopped to read any. Some were names she didn't recognize, but many were in memory of those who were lost before Ginny was born.

"Let's see if you won't think twice about defacing school property next time, when you're the one who's cleaning it up." Filch's laugh was one of the most unpleasant things Ginny had ever heard.

Filch settled into a chair he had pulled from a nearby room, his eyes boring into the back of her head as Ginny unpacked the crates and set to work. But the words wouldn't shift. Someone, or possible multiple someone's, had cast protection and sealing charms onto the walls throughout the day, so that not even Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover could make a dent.

Her supervisor appeared to have bored after a few hours of watching her scrub at the walls until her fingers were cracked and bleeding. When he wandered off to chase students through the halls for forgetting to wipe their feet, Ginny would take advantage and read each name that had been added throughout the day.

Harry's parents' names had been carefully printed below their son's, and nearby "Frank & Alice Longbottom" joined them. And why not? This was, after all, the same war that had orphaned (or nearly) both Harry and Neville.

When Filch tore after Peeves around ten thirty (no doubt bribed by the members of the DA who had been distracting Filch as often as possible for the past three hours) Ginny saw her chance. She pulled a small bottle of paint and a brush from the pocket of her robes, and strained her ears for sounds of Filch's return as she carefully added Gideon & Fabian Prewette's names.

"How'd you get here?" Ginny whispered under her breath when she caught sight of Mary MacDonald's name. She stared at the hasty black scrawl, wondering which student had been told stories of Mike's young niece, and cared enough to add her name to the list of the dead.

"What're you doing?" Filch's voice made Ginny jump, and she hastily shoved the paint bottle and soiled brush back into her pocket.

"Cramp," She lied quickly, flexing her hand open and closed a few times for show.

"Didn't realize you were so frail." Filch mocked, taking his seat once more. Ginny bit her tongue hard to stop herself from spitting out the angry retort that was rising in her throat like bile.

Finally, Ginny returned to Gryffindor Tower after midnight, barely able to stand from exhaustion. The common room was deserted, and the fire in the hearth was reduced to a few glowing embers, as most of Gryffindor House had been roused before dawn. She was tempted to collapse on her and Colin's usual couch rather than face climbing yet another set of stairs, but there was a chill in the January air that pushed her towards her warm bed.

* * *

Ginny smiled at herself as she woke slowly in the early hours of the morning. She was home for holidays at the Burrow and she felt, rather than heard, Harry in her room. She rolled over and made to brush her tangled red hair from her face, expecting to open her eyes and see him leaning against her door frame, waiting for her to wake.

Unwillingly, she realized she was not sleeping beneath the patchwork quilt in her room at home, but in the all too familiar four poster bed in Gryffindor tower.

Her mind suddenly reeling, Ginny peered into the darkness that filled her dormitory, swearing she and her fellow sixth years were not alone, that someone was watching her from the shadows as they slept. Without a sound, she slid her lit wand from beneath her pillow and swung her feet onto the icy stone floor.

Stepping into the middle of the dormitory, Ginny turned in a slow circle, eyes darting to shadows that could have, for a moment, been mistaken for someone standing in a corner of the room. Her heart nearly stopped as her eyes fell on the dormitory door, where the faintest flicker of firelight was seeping through the crack.

"Harry" she whispered, her voice nearly breaking, knowing that she hadn't imagined it, that he'd been in the room moment before. Her mind was racing as she broke into a run, one thought barely forming before another broke through.

It was mad of him to come to Hogwarts, but could this be what he, Ron and Hermione had been preparing for the past five months? Were they finally ready? Had they come home to make their stand, was battle upon them? It made sense, to start the outright rebellion at Hogwarts, where else would witches and wizards gather for a war? The ministry was too well infiltrated and Voldemort had only a small handful of supporters at the school.

She flung herself down the stairs and caught herself on the final landing overlooking the common room, unable to breathe as she clung to the banister with white knuckles, her heart in her throat.

She stared at the silhouette of a young man in front of the crackling common room fire. She could barely make out his left hand dragging itself through his hair as he bent low over a table of parchment.

"Harry?" she called out softly, and the man in front of her stiffened. He dropped his hand and slowly turned to face her with a sad, apologetic look and far too much understanding in his brown eyes.

Ginny took an involuntary step back, she hadn't even realized her heart had swelled with hope and happiness for the first time in months. She felt her whole body deflate as she stared at Neville.

"I'm so sorry Ginny, I- I didn't mean to..." he paused for a moment before finishing "did I wake you?"

Ginny shook her head gently and silently chastised herself for her foolishness. If, no, _when_ Harry came back to fight, he would most certainly not be wasting his time sneaking in and out of her dormitory, only to settle down alone in the middle of his old common room.

"Couldn't sleep?" she wasn't sure if she was asking Neville a question or trying to explain herself.

"Something like that." Neville seemed glad for the excuse to change the subject. Ginny stepped forward and joined him in front of the fire.

"How was Filch?" Neville asked after a moment. Ginny shrugged.

"Better than the Carrows, but I doubt I'll get away with another night of scrubbing walls." Ginny had expressly forbidden Neville and the others from turning themselves in, luckily they agreed it wouldn't do any good if they had.

"But I'll take what I can get. If I give up the weekends, I should be done in a couple weeks." She continued.

"If you can stay out of trouble for two weeks, that is." Neville said, raising his eyebrows. Ginny couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of it, but silence surrounded them once more.

"Well, I see I've been replaced," Colin startled the other two as he dumped his pillow and blankets next to Ginny. Neville looked curiously at Colin's sudden appearance, and Ginny guessed the portrait must have woken him when she left her dormitory so abruptly.

"Just can't sleep, it's alright, you can go back up." She smiled apologetically. Colin looked at the pair of them for a moment, watching Neville hastily clear his table while avoiding his eye.

"Nah, gimme a hand." Colin began pushing one of the other couches, spinning it around so its back was perpendicular to the fire. Ginny and Neville got up as did as he instructed until the three couches made a sort of enclosure around the hearth.

"What are you doing?" Neville wondered aloud as Ginny and Colin began tossing every cushion onto the floor in the middle of the couches.

" _Such_ an only child," Colin mused as he jumped over the back of one of the couches, kicking the cushions until they made a tight, single layer on the floor. Ginny dumped the pile of pillows and blankets at his feet and climbed in after them.

"Are you coming?" She asked Neville, who followed her obediently, despite his confusion. Sitting in the center, Ginny flicked her wand at the thinnest blanket Colin had brought. It floated in the air for a moment before falling over the furniture like a canopy, tucking itself in tightly once it fell into place.

It was like they were inside the belly of a dragon, the crimson sheets and blankets around them glowing, the fire's warmth trapped in their makeshift tent. The space was somewhere between cozy and cramped for the three of them as they lay on top of the blankets in their pajamas.

The room was quiet except for the crackling of the fire for a few moments, until Neville finally broke the silence.

"Did I ever tell you guys about the time Hermione petrified me in first year?" He asked. Ginny snorted before she could stop herself.

"It's not shocking; you were always rubbish at talking to girls." She was doing her best not to laugh.

"Not like that," Ginny swore she could _hear_ him rolling his eyes at her. "You know when they followed Quirrell and saved the Philosopher's Stone? I caught them sneaking out, and she _jinxed_ me so I couldn't stop them." Neville explained.

"I'm surprised neither of _us_ got jinxed by any of them in our first year, to be honest." Colin said, nudging Ginny with his elbow.

"If I recall correctly, Harry threatened you and that camera of yours more than once." Ginny answered, a little smugly. "I was just the best friend's adorable kid sister."

"Yeah, nothing's more adorable than being tackled by a dwarf in a diaper and told you look like a pickled – Ow!" Ginny interrupted Colin by flicking him in the ear.

"Did you ever hear about how Luna used to mess with Umbridge?" Ginny said, changing the subject.

"What, like how Harry did?" Neville asked.

"Not exactly. She'd ask her all these perfectly innocent, legitimate questions about whatever chapter we were supposed to be reading." Ginny explained, lost in the memory. "Then, she'd slowly pull off on some tangent, and end up cornering Umbridge into talking about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks."

"Isn't that just sort of… normal for her?" Neville asked.

"Well, it's not out of the ordinary, which made Umbridge take it as normal when she saw it happening here and there in the other classes. But she went _beyond_ where Umbridge was concerned."

"Brilliant." Neville grinned.

They continued swapping stories until Colin's light snoring hushed the other two, who lay in silence as Ginny fidgeted affectionately with Colin's hair.

"Do you miss him differently?" Neville asked, his voice barely a whisper. Ginny didn't need to ask who he meant, not after what had brought her downstairs an hour ago.

"I miss them all differently." She answered slowly. "It's weird with Ron, because it feels like it did when I was ten and he went off to Hogwarts without me. The only difference is that he can't write and tell me about all the trouble he's getting into with Harry and Hermione. I still expect to see him at King's Cross."

"And I missed Hermione a lot at the Burrow. And when I'm thinking of the boys, I miss her more, because we used to talk about them a lot. And Luna…" Ginny had to steady herself with a deep breath. "It's hard with Luna because she didn't _leave_ , she was just suddenly gone, and I don't think I really fully accepted that she wasn't coming back until we were on the train."

Ginny couldn't explain why, but in their little fortress, she could just open her mouth and let the words fall out on their own. She distracted herself for a moment as a half asleep Colin rolled over, flinging his arm over her torso. Neville remained silent.

"Harry was the hardest before Luna, and I think once the shock wears off… I don't know." Ginny chewed her lip for a moment. "I didn't tell him a lot of things… I thought I didn't need to, or I thought that it would be easier if I didn't."

"Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't asked you to the Yule Ball first." Neville mused.

"Harry was still infatuated with _Cho Chang_ ," Ginny scoffed. "I'd probably have gotten annoyed and jinxed him for ogling her." She turned onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow so she could see Neville properly.

"And I'm glad you asked me," She said fiercely. "I had a lot more fun at the Yule Ball with you than I did on _any_ date Michael Corner took me on."

"That," Colin mumbled, barely coherent, "is because Michael Corner is a git." Ginny couldn't help but choke slightly before settling back into the cushions.

The three of them slept on and off all night, shifting seamlessly between talking in quiet whispers, and dozing off, before waking again and picking up where they left off. None of them left their shelter until the noise of students waking up upstairs reminded them that the world outside still existed. Ginny helped Colin haul his bedding back upstairs before returning to her dorm to change for classes.

 _Four hundred miles away, Harry Potter cursed himself as he realized he'd fallen asleep on watch again, and glanced down at his lap. Smiling sadly to himself, he saw the dot labeled as Ginny Weasley's was still in her dormitory, probably just waking up herself. She would be completely unaware that he'd spent the first three hours of his midnight shift staring at her name, hoping she would know, somehow, that he was thinking about her, hoping that she was alright._


	21. Chapter 21 - Letters Sent

Were it not for Colin continuously kicking Ginny under the table, she never would have been able to stay awake during Wednesday morning's Transfiguration class.

"Crap, did you copy out the formula before she erased it?" Ginny asked in a panic, her eyes snapping to the board at the front of the room. Colin moved his messy notes into the middle of the desk and poured over them with her.

"If you don't start paying attention, I'm _going_ to ask to switch partners." Colin said under his breath. Professor McGonagall had started teaching them Human Transfiguration as soon as they returned from holidays, which was not only the most complicated branch of transfiguration, but incredibly dangerous as well.

"I'll catch up, just take some decent notes." Ginny stifled a yawn. "Is that a V or W?"

"I thought it was an _A_ …" Colin muttered, squinting at his own scrawl.

"Merlin's balls Colin, _I'm_ about to ask to switch partners! Pass me my textbook, it's got to be in there." Ginny and Colin weren't the only two who were having troubles with their newest assignment. Demelza had stormed away from the table she shared with Jack and was kneeling next to Christian and Curtis Bradley, comparing notes. Ethan Gerard and Andrew Kirk were staring at their textbooks with their eyes crossed, for reasons no one could explain.

Finally, Professor McGonagall dismissed the class, and the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students breathed a collective sigh of relief as they packed up their things. Ginny barely acknowledged Colin leaving to meet Sean and Neville in Herbology as she blindly followed Demelza, Christian and Curtis to Professor Vector's classroom.

By the end of Arithmancy, she could think of nothing but the steaming pot of coffee awaiting her in the Great Hall as she wandered off to lunch.

Ginny could have been sleep walking as she made her way through the crowded corridors, barely registering who she was passing along the way. It took longer than it should have to register that Colin, Neville and Sean had pushed their way up to her against the flow of students. Before she could wonder what they were doing, Neville had grasped her arm and guided her into an empty classroom.

"They've been spotted" Neville whispered in her ear as Colin locked the door behind Sean. It was like someone had shocked her, her eyes went wide and she stared at Neville in disbelief.

"Where? When?" She demanded, doing her best not to pounce on him as he dug a scrap of parchment out of his pocket.

"I wrote it all down; there was an emergency broadcast while I was in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout before class. One of the hosts of the Wizarding Wireless Network said something funny, so I tried switching to Potterwatch and heard..." Neville moved to the light streaming in through the window and began reading Lee's latest announcement aloud.

"The Order of the Phoenix recently received intelligence that Harry Potter was seen escaping the ruins of Xenophillus Lovegood's home on the fourth of January." Neville recited in a hushed tone.

"That was the night before we tried to rescue Luna!" Ginny realized suddenly. Sean hushed her, motioning for Neville to continue.

"It appears that Death Eaters, who are currently holding Luna Lovegood, Xenophillus' daughter, as a hostage, interrupted a meeting between Mr. Lovegood, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger, a well-known associate of Harry's." Neville stopped for a moment to look at Ginny, who could feel the blood drain from her face as she blanched, clinging to his every word.

"Harry and Hermione are said to have disapparated after setting off an explosion on of the upper floors of the Lovegood house. Mr. Lovegood, the eccentric editor of the Quibbler, has had his memory modified, and was unable to give any further information." Neville put down the paper. "It went on to talk about Luna for a bit, how she broke into the Ministry with us and stuff like that."

Ginny's mouth had gone dry.

"That must be why the Death Eaters were all at the Crouch house when the Order was trying to rescue Luna…" Colin said, but Ginny wasn't listening.

"There wasn't anything about Ron?" Ginny asked. She couldn't believe how hard she had to work to get the words out of her mouth. Colin's eyes widened as he realized what she was asking, but Neville just shook his head.

"They wouldn't have said anything if he was seen though, would they?" Sean said, trying to sound confident. "Hermione's parents went abroad, but Ron still has family here. They wouldn't risk putting you and your parents at risk, especially after Luna."

"That wouldn't matter, they left when Death Eaters showed up, so anything we know, they would already know." Ginny was almost tripping over her words now. "And I'd know if Ron was seen with Harry, mum made me swear I'd come home if Ron was found out. She had it all arranged with Professor McGonagall."

"Well let's ask her then!" Colin went for the door, but Ginny ignored him.

"She's eating next to Snape right now, and she'd have had the perfect opportunity to tell me in Transfiguration this morning." She had begun pacing the room, going over everything in her head.

"They must have split up," Sean offered "can you think of any reason they'd need to?"

"How could I? I don't know what they were doing!" Ginny fumed. "But I can't see them wanting to separate unless they were forced to. Luna's dad is an ally, they know that, he was at Bill and Fleur's wedding. They wouldn't have any reason to split up before seeing them, unless…" Ginny counted back the days on her fingers.

"I was at Mike's…" she whispered suddenly. "Did they say what time they were seen?" she asked. Neville re-read the parchment, biting his lip trying to remember.

"Just the date, the fourth of January."

"That was Saturday, Remus and I took the bike into the village for an hour that night. Luna's house isn't far from the burrow. But why would he come without Harry and Hermione? Why wouldn't they have told me he'd been there? Why were they at Luna's place at all?" She questioned, looking to the others for answers.

"Maybe they wanted to put something in the Quibbler?" Neville suggested halfheartedly.

"They may not have wanted to all come to the Burrow in case you were still being watched, if Ron was caught, they could easily say he'd recovered and would be coming back to Hogwarts for second term." Sean reasoned.

Ginny thought about this for a moment. The trio wouldn't have known that Luna was missing, or that her house wasn't safe if they were keeping to themselves. They wouldn't even know about Potterwatch or anything that had happened since Remus left them at the Grimmauld Place.

"But why wouldn't they have told me Ron had been there?" She asked.

"We don't know how long Harry and Hermione were at Luna's house, maybe they only just split up, and Ron saw the explosion and went back to meet them?" Colin suggested.

"But then they could still be separated!"

"If Ron couldn't meet up with them, he would have come to the Burrow, if that's where he was heading in the first place." Neville offered, but it still wasn't adding up for Ginny. "Let's check with McGonagall and send a message to your parents, to see if Ron did come by." Ginny nodded reluctantly, but couldn't stop the questions from stirring in her mind. Her head felt fuzzy from lack of sleep and answers.

Would her parents and the order hide Ron's visit from her? What were Harry and Hermione doing at Luna's? Did they somehow know she was taken? Were they trying to rescue her? What if something had happened to Ron, and they were trying to get to the Burrow? They'd had no news since hearing the three of them were alive in early December, but a lot could happen in a month. Ron could very well have been too injured to travel, or caught by snatchers, or killed.

"We should go if we want to get something to eat before Muggle Studies." Ginny didn't even realize the others were heading towards the door until Colin spoke. "Come on Ginny, you have a study block before dinner, so Alecto'll probably try to keep you"

Ginny only agreed to eat lunch once they ran into Dennis and Jimmy, who offered to run a letter up to the Owlery before class. Ginny tore the bottom of her Arithmancy essay and scribbled a quick note.

 _Mum,_

 _I was talking to some of Ron's bunkmates this morning- they were wondering if he would be well enough to come back to school soon? I know he wasn't much better when I was home, but I said I'd ask._

 _Love, Ginny_

* * *

Ginny spent two more nights scrubbing away at the Entrance hall, until finally, Filch had to accept that only time would fade the names of the lost. Ginny was a little disappointed when she was tasked with repairing the greenhouses and polishing suits of armor, as she had found comfort in the resilience of the painted walls.

Once, Amycus decided that the seventh year Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students needed extra practice with their hexes after class, which happened to be on a Wednesday, when Ginny had a spare block after Muggle Studies. The ensuing riot landed Neville, Seamus, Ernie, Hannah, and (to Ginny's annoyance) Lavender Brown in detention with her that weekend.

Neither the Carrows nor Filch were willing to supervise such a volatile group of students though, so the six of them were frog marched across the grounds Friday after supper, and delivered to Hagrid.

"Well, it can't be any more dangerous than Dark Arts class," Seamus said, almost cheerily as Hagrid led them towards the edge of the forest. A fresh powering of snow covered the grounds, giving off a soft glow that ended abruptly at the treeline.

"Don't count on that until we know what we're doing. There's werewolves and - "

"Don't you even start." Ginny snapped, before Lavender could finish her dire warning. "You were taught by a werewolf for a whole year, and he was one of the best professors we've ever had! The centaurs are more likely to carry you off out of sheer annoyance than anything else."

"Don't be stupid! Firenze is a centaur, and he's - "

"Yeah, it's almost like Remus and Firenze are individuals, and shouldn't be judged by their race or affliction." Ginny cut across her again, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Come on now girls, I don' wan' you squabblin' when we're in there. Lot's o' beasts you don' want ter cross." Hagrid called to the back of the group.

"Now, we'll be takin' the long way 'round today, skirtin' 'round Centaur territory, like Ginny said. You'll be keepin' yer wands out, but at yer sides and out of sight unless I tell yeh otherwise, right?" Hagrid instructed, passing out oil lamps to each student and swinging a rucksack over his shoulder.

Ginny dawdled behind the others, taking the place next to Neville at the back of the group while Lavender was joined by Ernie near the front. There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief that the two off them were choosing to walk together.

"Any idea what we're doing?" Seamus asked, hanging back slightly as well.

"I have an idea, but I don't think you'll like it…" Ginny said slowly. She exchanged a glance with Neville, but his questioning look told her that he hadn't been let in on Hagrid's secret yet.

"I won't tell you in case I'm wrong. You won't believe me anyways." She said finally, hoping against hope that Harry had exaggerated some of the Gawp's more vicious features.

The advantage to skirting around the edge of the forest was that the moonlight and snow still basked the undergrowth in cool light for the first portion of their journey. Eventually though, they turned in on a path leading into the heart of the forest, though its twists and turns seemed to have them doubling back at least half the time.

"Hagrid, shouldn't we be there by now?" Ginny asked finally. There was no way Harry and Hermione could have made this trek and gotten back in time for the end of the Quidditch match last year.

"Jus' a bit further. Had to move him back after Hallowe'en." Hagrid answered.

" _Him_?" Seamus asked skeptically. Ginny took a deep breath, accepting that there was no possible way they were headed anywhere other than Grawp's territory.

* * *

 _Harry,_

 _I think what the Carrows are enjoying the most about having me in detention every waking moment is that it's becoming harder and harder to make plans for the DA, so things are getting a little quieter. Neville's doing great though, Seamus is helping him plan meetings, so of course there's a lot more explosions, or so I hear. A fair few of the others are stepping up to help teach the younger students during meetings as well, but I doubt they'd be giving you nearly as much backtalk as they're giving Michael. I'm sure you'll love the fact that he's being compared to you and found wanting once again._

 _We heard about you and Hermione blowing up Luna's house, and I know that if you didn't know she was taken before, you will by now. I don't know what you're doing out there, but I know you'll be looking for her if you can._

 _I guess I've been skirting around the issue for long enough now, and I don't know why, because asking it won't get me an answer either way. Where was Ron? When you were at Luna's, Potterwatch didn't mention him at all, and he should be with you. Colin and the others keep trying to distract me, but mum still hasn't answered my letter and I haven't had a chance to corner McGonagall. I just really need to know that he's okay, and I need you three to keep looking out for each other._

 _You'd probably like to hear about the mundane stuff too, but it's getting harder to find pieces of normal life right now. Colin and Sean started apparition lessons last week, and they promised to help me catch up once I'm out of detention. So far it sounds like I haven't missed too much though._

 _Oh, and we finally had the pleasure of meeting Hagrid's brother… Hagrid says he's really improved over the past year, so I don't know WHAT you had to deal with when you met him. He's really taken a shine to Seamus though, so that's probably the most destructive duo that will ever walk the earth. And don't tell Hermione, but I think I'm failing Transfiguration. If she finds out, I'm sure she'll confine me to the library until she can bring my marks up, and I might be forced to hex her just so I can get some sleep._

 _Sleep… that sounds like an amazing idea actually, and I think I can manage a few hours now. Maybe you'll come into my room again; it's been happening a lot lately. I don't know why or how, but I swear it's you. If it is, and I'm not just going mad, please don't stop whatever it is you're doing to make that happen. Fooling myself into thinking you're here is the best part of my day right now._

 _All my love,_

 _Ginny_

She folded the letter carefully, creasing it with more precision than necessary, and stared at the parchment for a moment. As always, there was a fleeting moment where she imagined sneaking up to the owlery before sense could catch up to her.

But the moment passed as quickly as it came. Ginny got up from her table in the empty common room and walked over to the fireplace. She watched soberly as the flames curled the edges of the parchment before turning them black, not letting herself look away until there every trace of the letter had burned away.


	22. Chapter 22 - Taboo

"So you're telling me," Colin asked in disbelief, "That Ron spent _three weeks_ with Bill and Fleur, and they won't tell you why?"

"Yes, and it was just him, no sign or either Harry or Hermione." Ginny answered. She had just finished her last detention and dragged Colin and Neville into the seventh year boy's dormitory. As soon as the door closed behind them, she began retelling what McGonagall had managed to say while she was cleaning out the old broom shed earlier.

"Why didn't Bill say anything when you were home for Christmas?" Neville asked, pacing the room in Ginny's usual place.

"He didn't come home, remember? They stayed at Shell Cottage, must have been because of Ron. But she said Bill could only confirm that Ron was there, he didn't see any of the others." Ginny reported. She was sitting cross legged on Harry's bed again, running her fingers through her hair as she went over everything in her head for what felt like the hundredth time.

"But he left with them?" Neville pressed. "They came to get him?"

"I _think_ so, he left a note saying that they got in touch with him, or that he was meeting up with them, or… something." Ginny felt frustration rising up inside of her again, just as it had when she first tried to process the news.

"There's got to be more than that." Colin said thoughtfully, as if Ginny were withholding pieces to a jigsaw.

"Of course there is, all the information _we_ have has been watered down to the absolute basics. I doubt Ron would have told Bill everything, because Harry wouldn't tell Remus what they were doing. And even if Bill told the Order everything _he_ knew, my mother would make sure McGonagall wouldn't tell me too much." Ginny fumed. She'd spent half an hour pressing her professor for details, until she was threatened with further detentions if she didn't get back to work.

"So there's a week and a half gap between Ron leaving Shell Cottage and Harry and Hermione showing up at Luna's on their own, but Bill seems confident that Ron knew how to get back to them?" Colin clarified. Ginny nodded, though her head felt like exploding.

Silence filled the room, and Ginny avoided looking at either of the boys. Harry, Ron, and Dean's beds had been drawing her eyes like morose shrines since she had opened the door.

"So, what do we do now?" Colin finally asked.

"I don't know," Ginny groaned. "We don't have any more information than we had this morning."

"We're not exactly sitting here with our fingers up our asses, you know." Neville said defensively. "You've finished your hundred hours, so DA meetings can get back on track. There's another broadcast tomorrow, it's all set up."

Neville began pulling out defense books and rolls of parchment, clearly eager to start planning something productive instead of repeating dead ended conversations. Ginny wasn't sure if it was the early evening light, or if she just hadn't looked at Neville properly for a while, but for a fleeting second, she could have mistaken him for a younger Remus.

Ginny smiled a little despite herself, watching him as he rambled on about how everyone had been doing, and that some of the third and fourth years were probably ready to move on to more advanced spells. Catching herself, she climbed off the bed and took a spot on the floor next to Colin, who was eagerly writing down everything that came spewing out of her and Neville's mouth, until a lesson plan slowly formed.

* * *

After a month of Holidays and detentions, Ginny was relieved when Sunday afternoon came and she, Neville, Colin and Sean were once again setting up the Room of Requirement for a DA meeting. Soon, students began filing in, claiming their favourite cushions around the old wooden wireless and chatting away, with one eye on the clock as always.

A natural hush overcame the teenagers as the clock neared two seventeen, and Ginny saw a few of the newer members get nudged gently by those around them. The final three ticks of the second hand seemed to echo throughout the room, and nobody dared make a sound.

"Mad-Eye." Ginny whispered, tapping her wand in unison with the clock.

"Welcome to another - " Lee Jordan's voice filled her ears immediately.

"Potterwatch!" Fred cut across, and Ginny could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Today we present - " By the time George cut in, the room had filled with the familiar relaxed chortling that had come to follow any Potterwatch intro that wasn't tellingly solemn.

"Tips for survival!" Lee sounded out of breath now, and there was a scuffling noise that sounded like he had been forced to wrestle a microphone away from the twins. "Tomorrow, for all those who left Hogwarts some time ago and may have forgotten - "

"Or just in case you fell asleep when Snape was going on, and on, and on - " Fred chimed in. There was a ripple of giggles throughout the Room of Requirement as Fred abused their professor.

"One of our regulars will give you a reminder of how to make Polyjuice Potion. Not an immediate help, as it takes a long time to be ready, but it's useful stuff to have around if you need to change your appearance." Lee finished triumphantly. Ginny glanced around the room an already saw a few students glancing her way, so she made a quick note to explain Polyjuice Potion after the broadcast.

"In the meantime, a word to the wise," George chimed in. "All those choosing to head to the countryside for safety should be aware that we have had reports of some 'dangerous concentrations' of magical creatures in remote places. One forest we've heard of was said to contain a migrant Hungarian horntail - "

"That's a dragon!" Ginny actually groaned this time when Fred interrupted.

" _Numerous_ Acromantulas, Doxies, Pixies, and other creatures. All those on the run are asked to be careful where they decide to set up camp." George continued, speaking quickly. His voice was getting quieter and more strained, and Ginny pictured him holding the microphone as far from his twin as he could, fighting for his turn.

"No point escaping only to find your bed on fire!" Fred managed to yell through the speakers.

"Or yourself stuck in a web!" George answered. Choking slightly.

"But if you _do_ end up anywhere remote, keep an eye out for useful potion ingredients!" Lee finished. "But beware of patrols of Snatchers. You aren't paranoid, they _are_ looking for you. Stay safe, keep your eyes peeled - "

"And support Harry Potter!" everyone chorused, before static filled their ears. Immediately, students began talking amongst themselves, and Ginny and Neville tried to restore some degree of order.

"Didn't Harry beat a Horntail in the Triwizard Tournament?" A fourth year asked excitedly.

"That doesn't mean _you_ could!" her friend answered back. "You couldn't stay in the air for two minutes on an empty Quidditch pitch, let alone against a Horntail!"

"Why are they so worried about pixies?" Owen Cauldwell piped up from a group of young Hufflepuffs congregating around Sean.

"You weren't around for the Lockhart fiasco." Colin replied, rolling his eyes.

"Should we be making a batch of Polyjuice potion?" Christian asked, looking both excited and nervous.

Slowly, each question was answered, some several times over. Ginny tried her best not to be annoyed when she noticed Sean hunched over a stack of books in the corner while Neville was talking. As they started pairing up, he marked his place and hurried back to the group, and they moved on to the practical part of the meeting.

"What's so interesting in there?" Ginny asked as they cleared up the room at the end of the meeting. Sean had retreated back to his corner table as soon as the excitement had died down.

"Just something River said, about snatchers, it got me thinking about the Taboo." He began, pulling one of the open booked over from across the table. "From everything we've heard, the Taboo doesn't alert Death Eaters specifically, because they'd rather have the Snatchers do their dirty work and risk their lives for a galleon a head."

"Right, you say his name, Snatchers show up, and trade you in for a bounty if they manage to catch you." Neville said, appearing next to Ginny. "It makes sense, only someone really brave or daft - "

"or both" Colin offered.

"- would say the Taboo in the first place, so they could be apparating into the middle of a gang of Aurors or Order members." Neville finished.

"So there's no way for them to know _who_ said it, just where it was said?" Ginny asked. She still didn't quite understand where this was going.

"That's right, it's like the Trace, but not really. We can do magic around Neville, because he's of age, so the ministry can't tell who cast the spell. But if I were on my own, they'd know it was me." Sean explained. Neville nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on Sean.

"So how does it alert the Snatchers or Death Eaters that the Taboo was said?" He asked.

"It sends some kind of signal and the nearest group of Snatchers apparate to the location. Certain areas, like towns where known Order members live, or the Ministry, let's say, would probably signal Death Eaters instead, and they could go in prepared." Sean pointed to a few graphs and diagrams he'd found, some of which Ginny recognized from her textbooks.

"So what would happen if somebody used the Taboo somewhere that's protected from apparition?" Ginny asked slowly, as comprehension dawned.

"That's exactly what I want to know. Twycross mentioned at the start of lessons that we could only apparate within the Great Hall, not into or out of it. Clearly Snape and You-Know-Who are keen to keep Hogwarts sealed up." Sean was excited now, his long legs vibrating against his chair as he spoke.

"So, if _someone_ used the Taboo, one of two things would happen" Colin joined in. "Either Death Eaters and Snatchers would apparate into Hogmeade and have to walk into the school through the front doors, or - "

"They have a system in place to temporarily open part of the castle up to Apparition." Sean confirmed. "This, on the average Tuesday, would be completely useless. But if we know that's how they react to the Taboo, it could be useful if we ever need to get people in or out of Hogwarts quickly."

The four of them stared at each other in silence, contemplating what Sean was suggesting. Summoning Death Eaters into the middle of the Great Hall was probably the worst idea any of them had ever had. Still, if it meant having an escape plan, it could be worth it.

"So, what? We just shout out the Taboo over Breakfast and hope it's a pack of Snatchers that show up, and not Dolohov, Rookwood, and the Lestranges?" Colin asked in disbelief.

"They'll know we're doing it on purpose if people hear us say it." Ginny reasoned. Someone other than Colin may have found it concerning that this was the only flaw she saw in the plan.

"We're serious about this then?" Neville asked, squinting at Sean's notes. They were NEWT level diagrams though, and he soon gave up.

* * *

Every nerve in Ginny's body seemed to be on high alert as she walked through the corridors on the way to dinner that night. She couldn't remember the last time she had done something so spontaneously reckless, but they had all agreed that the risk would be worth it if it meant having an escape plan.

If Voldemort's followers appeared after the Taboo was said, then there would be a window where anyone in the great hall would be able to disapparate as well. If they were prepared the next time, they could disappear before the Death Eaters knew what was happening.

Waiting was the worst part by far. The four of them had arrived early and were eating as slowly as possible, keeping their eye on the head table. They wanted to make sure Hagrid, McGonagall, and as many other Order members as possible, were tucking in. As an added precaution, they'd sent messages through the DA coins to make sure everyone was on their toes.

"Ready?" Neville asked. The other three took out their wands under the table, their nearly untouched meals abandoned on their plates. Simultaneously, they nodded. Ginny took a deep breath, and let her lips defiantly form the Taboo, as an unwelcome chill went down her spine.

" _Voldemort."_

If the hall seemed louder, it was only because she had expected those around her to have heard, and fall deadly silent. She looked to the others, who all looked as anxious as she felt. At first, she thought maybe she'd failed to make any actual noise, but the fact that none of the other three were able to keep their eyes from darting around the room meant that she had said it aloud.

Minutes dragged on, and finally, Ginny let herself breathe. There was a mixture of relief that no Death Eaters had appeared, and disappointment that they had not managed to trick them into showing a weakness in their security.

"I guess they're walking then." Ginny said, laughing despite herself.

Sure enough, it was only ten or fifteen minutes before the doors burst open and a rag-tag group of wizards marched through them. A hush fell over the students, and members of Dumbledor's Army glanced warily at Ginny and Neville from across the nearest house tables.

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape barked as he seemed to glide towards the intruders.

"We're jus' doin' our job!" One of them snapped back, eyeing a young group of Ravenclaws near him.

"Looking for truants? _In a school?_ " Snape asked incredulously. He had reached the newcomers now, and was standing toe to toe with them, the Carrows flanking him.

"Mud bloods and blood traitors, unless you teach your students to use the Dark Lord's name over their pudding?" The Snatcher challenged. Snape seemed to suddenly become aware of the great number of eyes staring at the group.

" _Out!"_ he commanded, following them into the Entrance Hall and slamming the door behind him.

It was then that Ginny realized that there was still one set of eyes boring into the back of her own head, and turned to see McGonagall's stare fixed on her.

* * *

"Did it never cross your minds," McGonagall seethed from behind her desk an hour later. "That the Taboo being used in Hogwarts might raise enough alarm to summon _You-Know-Who_ himself?"

Ginny watched as Sean's face blanched. The four of them had tried, unsuccessfully, to sneak out of the Great Hall unnoticed and walked right into the waiting deputy headmistress.

"We were trying to work out how the - " Sean stuttered, while Ginny winced. He'd dealt with McGonagall in class before, but she must have seemed extra formidable for someone who was usually reprimanded by Professor Sprout.

"How the Taboo works? Is that your job, or mine?" McGonagall snapped. She stared at him, as if she were expecting an answer.

"Most of your professors turn a blind eye to Dumbledore's Army, some have even risked their jobs by helping you two - " she eyed Ginny and Neville "with spells well outside of the Hogwarts curriculum." Ginny felt her face grow warm as she flushed despite herself, but McGonagall pretended not to notice and continued with her lecture.

"I can't blame you for fighting for your school. I can't pretend I'm not thankful the students aren't defenseless. I don't disapprove of you teaching each other what your professors aren't allowed to, and I'm proud to see you all fighting the small battles that need to be fought." Ginny chanced a look up at McGonagall's face, and immediately wished she hadn't. "But you _cannot_ endanger the lives of other students! Showing them how to stand up for themselves is one thing, but there wasn't a single student in that hall today who was prepared for the possible consequences to your actions!"

Ginny felt like she might be sick. Nobody spoke, though McGonagall seemed to be anticipating some kind of argument. When none came, she seemed to deflate a little, seeing the message had gotten across.

"When you are asked about the events of this evening, you will react with humility and remorse for your part in it. If anything this extreme happens inside the walls of Hogwarts again, I will have Dumbledore's Army disbanded - "

"You can't do that!" Ginny protested in outrage, ignoring one of the boys, who was trying to kick her out of sight.

"I would not question what I can and cannot do at the moment, Miss Weasley! Despite what you may think, I am far more capable than either Dolores Umbridge or the Death Eaters masquerading as your teachers." McGonagall snapped, before finishing her threat. "I will have Dumbledore's Army disbanded, and the four of you in detention for the remainder of the term. Are we clear?"

A chorus of acknowledgement answered her, though Ginny stayed stubbornly silent.

* * *

Despite Ginny and the others doing as they were told when asked about the Snatchers, most students seemed to think that activating the Taboo was the perfect method of wasting the Snatcher's time and causing Snape to pull his greasy hair out.

For the next two weeks, students would dare each other to use the Taboo in crowded spaces, until Snape had to threaten to use a silencing charm during mealtimes. Still, it was almost worth it to see harried looking Snatchers bursting through the castle doors every few days, each group looking more frustrated than the last as they stood dripping from the rain.


	23. Chapter 23 - Acceptance

It was nearly one in morning when Colin and Ginny stumbled through the portrait hole in early February. The common room was completely empty, except for a set of bowls containing various herbs and essences that Neville had made a habit of leaving out.

"How's your leg?" Colin asked as he helped her to their couch.

"It's been worse. Pass me some of that orange gunk." She instructed, gingerly removing her shoe and sock before resting her leg on an ottoman.

They'd spent the last several hours with the Carrows and their usual gang of volunteers in an empty classroom, and as usual, had come out worse for wear. Ginny inhaled sharply as she applied the icy poultice to her scarred calf.

"That's better," She breathed finally, as the sharp pains dulled to a tolerable ache. "Come here, that cut over your eye opened up again." Colin shuffled towards her, minding her leg as best he could. By the time they had finished dressing their wounds, it was all they could do to keep their eyes open.

"I don't think I can make it up the stairs, do you?" Colin asked. Ginny's leg probably would have supported her, but exhaustion had taken over and even a short trip to her warm bed seemed daunting.

"By the time we make it up the stairs, we might as well be getting up for breakfast." Ginny agreed, before summoning her bedding and a pair of pajamas from her dormitory.

Ginny covered the poultice on her leg in a dressing, and changed quickly in the dim light. Before she was settled in, Colin was snoring lightly on his side of the couch. She closed her eyes, doing her best not to think about the curses they had spent the evening dodging, and hoping the Death Eaters would at least stay out of her dreams.

It felt as if she had only just closed her eyes when Ginny was suddenly jerked back awake, and it took her a few moments to realize that it was already sunrise. At first, Ginny couldn't figure out what had woken her, until the loud, rapid knocking repeated itself.

"Whosser?" Colin groaned, rolling over to face the door. "Shit, sorry!" He apologized quickly when he realized he'd knocked into Ginny's bad leg. The knocking came again.

"I'll get it – SORRY!" Colin banged into her again as he rolled off the couch, landing on the floor with a loud thump.

"Colin?" Sean's muffled voice broke through the portrait hole.

"What the hell is he doing?" Ginny asked, fighting through the blankets and moving to one end of the couch. Colin had finally made it to the door and pushed it open, revealing a fully dressed Sean Peakes. Next to him, Owen Cauldwell was bouncing on his toes, a huge grin spread across his face.

"Morning?" Colin sounded as confused as Ginny felt. She had to remind herself that Sean would be less cheerful if they had slept through a class, then mentally shook herself when she remembered it was a Saturday. "Er… come in?"

The Hufflepuffs didn't need to be invited twice, and quickly made their way inside. Ginny resisted the urge to clear her throat when she caught Sean sneak a kiss onto Colin's cheek while Owen was distracted by the Gryffindors' common room. In all fairness, Colin tended to be irresistibly loveable when he first woke up in the morning, and Sean was probably using all his restraint to stop himself from fussing over the many cuts and bruises.

"Sorry we're so early, but Owen got an owl late last night, and we thought you'd want to get the news first thing." Sean said, carefully taking a seat next to Ginny. It was once a rare sight to see Owen out of the company of Kevin Whitby, but Kevin was one of the students the Order had failed to rescue nearly a month ago.

"What? What happened?" Ginny demanded.

"They got out!" The words seemed to have exploded from his mouth, and he pulled a crumpled letter from his pocket. "Kevin and Brendon! And Luna Lovegood was there, she helped them!"

Ginny took the scrap of parchment he was offering her greedily, which she assumed had been passed around the Hufflepuff common room for half the night.

 _Owen,_

 _We escaped! I can't say much here, but I'm allowed to write to you so you can tell everyone at school. Luna overheard some of the Death Eaters talking last week, and the three of us managed to escape last night. We ran to a house Luna told us would be safe, and met up with some of the ORDER OF THE PHOENIX! How cool is that? We split up because Brendon couldn't run, so I went with him. As soon as we got to the Order, they went back to get Luna, but we were moved before they found her. She's tough as nails! I won't be able to go back to school for now, but I wanted to let you know we're okay._

 _Kevin_

Ginny read the letter a second time, squinting through Kevin's hurried scrawl to make sure she understood.

"We've got to go see McGonagall." She said, frantically pulling at the blankets that were now wedged under Sean and pinning her down.

"Go get dressed, we'll clean up down here." Sean offered, but Ginny had already freed herself and was halfway to the portrait hole. "You can't go running through the halls in your pajamas without drawing attention! Someone's going to catch on and follow you right into McGonagall's office, and - "

"Alright, alright, I'll change," She agreed, sprinting upstairs as quickly as she could. "Somebody get Neville!"

Ginny was just lacing up her trainers when she heard the telltale yelping of someone sliding down the staircase outside.

"Merlin, Ginny, you spent all night fooling aroung in the common room and he can't leave you alone for five minutes?" Romilda groaned from her bed across the dormitory.

"No picking fights before breakfast, not after last time." Demelza said automatically. Their bickering was so common place that she didn't bother looking up from her mirror as she applied her eyeliner. Ginny bit her tongue and opened the door to see Sean picking himself up at the bottom of the chute.

"Doesn't Hufflepuff have protection charms around the girls' dormitories?" She asked, sliding gracefully down to him.

"Dunno, never had much incentive to go into a girl's room before." Sean shrugged, a cocky twinkle in his eye.

"Come on then," She said, pulling him to his feet as Owen started gathering up the blankets from around them. "Leave those there, they're covered in salves. It'll save Dobby and Kreacher a trip up the stairs."

Owen didn't get a change to question her strange remark, as Neville chose that moment to bowl over a groggy and confused Jimmy, who had stumbled out of bed to see what the commotion was about. Finally, they managed to escape Gryffindor Tower, and filled Neville in on their way to McGonagall's office.

Ginny only had to knock once before the door opened, revealing a somber, stony-faced Professor McGonagall. Ginny's stomach dropped.

"Come in." Ginny was suddenly overcome with a desperate urge to bolt, to get as far away from the Deputy Headmistress's office as possible. But she couldn't run, and Luna would have called her foolish for thinking that refusing to hear bad news would somehow make it easier. So she stepped through the door, shifting her hand slightly as Colin tried to grasp it. She didn't want comfort.

"I got a letter from Kevin, he said he escaped with Brendon…" Owen's voice trailed off as he followed the others inside.

"Take a seat." McGonagall instructed as a tea tray appeared on her desk. Ginny did as she was told before her legs would have a chance to give out on their own. McGonagall read the letter Ginny passed her, and pushed the tray of tea and biscuits towards the students.

"I'm sorry, but the Order was unable to locate Miss Lovegood. The house where she, Mr. Whitby and Mr. Halkirk were being held was abandoned after their escape, and she never made it to the safehouse." McGonagall explained as calmly and kindly as was possible.

"No…" Neville's voice cracked from the chair behind Ginny.

"Is she… do you know?" Sean asked, struggling to find words while his classmates had been struck dumb by the news.

"We haven't been able to confirm anything yet." McGonagall answered. The room grew quiet as everyone digested the news. Ginny's mind was a complete blank, she couldn't get through a single thought without feeling her stomach turn over on itself.

"What happened?" Colin asked finally, almost making the rest of them jump.

"It appears Miss Lovegood managed to overhear their captors talking about known members of the Order of the Phoenix being spotted nearby, suspected that we were closing in on their hideout." She explained. "The students realized they would have been sent a message through the coins if there was going to be another rescue attempt, and came to the conclusion that they had inadvertently been placed near an Order member's home."

Ginny listened to McGonagall explain, desperate for a shimmer of hope that Luna was alive, somewhere.

"Two nights ago, the decision was made to move the hostages, and when they did, a fight broke out. Miss Lovegood did manage to acquire a wand in the struggle. The plan was for her to distract their captors while the two boys snuck out in the confusion. Mr. Halkirk wasn't in any condition to be running across the countryside, let alone fight his way out."

"Is Brendon going to be alright?" Owen asked.

"He's had a bad bought of Scrofungulus, and hadn't been given any proper medical treatment for weeks. But the Healers at Saint Mungo's are confident he'll make a full recovery. They're being quite discreet, of course." McGonagall answered.

"Don't worry," Sean reassured him "Jimmy caught that when we he was your age, kids recover pretty quick." Owen breathed a sigh of relief, and all eyes returned to McGonagall. Had the subject of been any different, she'd have appreciated having so many student's undivided attention at once.

"As you can imagine, it was quite a shock for the Order when the boys managed to get close enough to the safehouse to get their attention. We were monitoring Death Eaters in the area, but hadn't realized they were being held there. All available Order members were summoned immediately, and we searched the surrounding area for any sign of Luna." McGonagall stole a steadying breath, and Ginny recalled her absence from the Great Hall on that evening. The Professor took a seat behind her desk as she recounted the extensive, fruitless, search.

"And there's been no news since?" Neville asked, once she had finished.

"We've sent a message through, asking for proof of life." McGonagall offered. Ginny's breath caught in her throat, and she didn't even try to choke down the lump that had been steadily growing since she opened the door. "You will be the first to know."

"What - " Colin swallowed hard and coughed a little. "What are you doing to find her?" Someone had clamped a vice around Ginny's chest, and was slowly squeezing the breath out of her lungs. Everything was coming in and out of focus too quickly for her eyes to adjust.

"Everything we can." McGonagall answered. Everything sounded muffled, as if someone had filled her ears with bubotuber pus.

Ginny was suffocating, watching the room spin and compress around her until she couldn't take it anymore. She stood up quickly, toppling her chair and nearly tripped over it as she made a break for the door.

She ran, and she kept running.

By now, many of the students had come down for breakfast, but Ginny couldn't bear to look at them. She couldn't watch the Hufflepuffs celebrate their housemates' rescue, or listen to the Ravenclaws cheer for Luna, not yet knowing that she never made it out.

She barely registered the ice cold air rushing into her starving lungs, or half melted snow that soaked through her trainers when she reached the grounds. Her legs started to burn as she reached the edge of the lake, but that only made her run faster, not caring if she strayed from the winding path, splashing through the dirty slush puddles on either side.

It was impossible to know if her tears were brought on by pain, or by the wind cutting her face, but at least she could breathe. Heavy, panting breaths as she gulped in as much oxygen as she could.

She had almost reached the far end of the lake when her foot caught on one edge of the trail, sending her crashing into the frozen earth. She scrambled, but slipped and landed hard again, and she gave up.

Racking sobs shuddered through her whole body, curled up on the side of a lonely, abandoned pathway next to the black lake. She was no longer Ginny Weasley, leader of Dumbledore's Army, fiercest and youngest of seven Weasley children. She was just Ginny, Luna Lovegood's best friend; a scared teenager who was mourning the girl who was probably never coming home.

Slowly, she managed to cry herself into exhaustion. She didn't realize she had grown still and quiet at first, and didn't know how long she'd been laying there before she could sit herself up.

"Ginny!" Colin's voice rang out as her turned the corner and saw her, sitting against an oak tree, her eyes fixated on the hypnotizing waves crashing against the nearby shore. It must have been at least an hour after she'd left them, although it could have been three times that long.

Sean reached her first, and it was only when he crouched next to her that she turned her face away from the lake, staring instead, at the ground. She almost expected him to scold her for running off, for being selfish and leaving them to their own grief to deal with.

"Kevin's right, Luna's the toughest witch I know." He said gently, after a moment's silence. Ginny could hear Colin and Neville coming up to them now, too, and she allowed herself to look up. Their cheeks and noses were red.

"I know." She managed to say, her voice only cracking a little. She could feel him reach an arm around her shoulders, and that was it. No promises of everything being alright, or optimistic daydreams about Luna managing to fight off a half dozen armed Death Eaters on her own. All any of them could manage, at least for today, was a small sliver of hope that Luna would survive long enough for the Order to find her, one more time.

Neville sat on Ginny's other side, and Colin folded himself under Sean's free arm, resting his head on the taller boy's shoulder. The four of them sat in silence for ages, until Sean finally stood up, gently pulling the others up with him.

Slowly, they made their way back to the school, ignoring the other students, who by now had heard the news. Nobody spoke until they reached the Room of Requirement, which had transformed itself into Luna's favourite meadow.

They never knew who had sent the message, but it brought a painful sort of comfort to see "Thank you, Luna" scribed around the edges of their DA coins.


	24. Chapter 24 - Enough

The next few days passed in a blur, and before they knew it, Monday was upon them. Ginny and Colin were facing another Transfiguration class where Luna's seat would remain empty. For once though, they weren't the only ones who couldn't quite tear their eyes away from it.

They had arrived early, though it would be too painful to hope that Professor McGonagall would have any news. So they avoided her gaze and buried themselves in their spellwork.

"It's going to be weird," Ginny could hear Curtis Bradley whisper to one of his fellow chasers. "We have a match coming up, I don't think we've ever played without Luna's Eagle in the stands."

Ginny bit her tongue and blocked him out as best she could. She and Curtis got along quite well most of the time, but she couldn't help being annoyed with him now. He'd always been decent to Luna, nicer than most of her other housemates, but she was getting tired of all the Ravenclaws acting as if they'd been her friend.

Everywhere she went, she heard Luna's name, spoken by students who had spent the last six years calling her _Loony Lovegood_. She couldn't explain why, but it hurt.

When they reached the Great Hall for lunch, Ginny wished she had thought to spend it in Gryffindor Tower, or the room of Requirement. Students hushed as she and Colin passed them, making their way to where Neville and Sean were saving their seats.

"I bet Potter found them, and they just cooked up the story about her dying so nobody would bother looking for her." She overheard a fifth year whisper from the table behind her. Ginny set her jaw, trying to ignore them.

"Are you stupid? The Death Eaters would know if _they_ killed her or not." His friend argued back.

"Eat something," Sean encouraged, frowning at her empty plate. Ginny reached for an apple, although he refused to look away until she took a bite.

"But this is _Lovegood_ we're talking about, you can't tell me Potter would have just left her chained up in some Death Eater's house?" By now, other students were weighing in, and Ginny could tell that Sean, Colin, and Neville could hear as well.

"Why not? He's left the rest of us here, and the Carrows aren't exactly afraid to chain up a student for a couple days." Colin grabbed Ginny's wrist as she drew her wand out of her pocket, holding it firmly below the table and out of sight.

"Let's go," Sean said as he stood, his eyes boring into the back of the Ravenclaw's heads.

"I guess they're over pretending they cared about her." Ginny spat once they'd made it to the Entrance Hall.

"Forget about them," Sean said, "Let's go to the library, I'll look over your Transfiguration homework before Muggle Studies."

But lunch was over before Sean had time to show Ginny where she'd misunderstood the chapter they had been working on. It didn't even seem worth dreading their next classes, so they bade Neville farewell and trudged off to Alecto's classroom.

For the first time since she had been forced to start taking the class, Ginny found Muggle Studies preferable to Transfiguration. Not only was there no conspicuous absence of Luna, but the Hufflepuffs in general had far more tact than the other houses. There was nobody casually dropping Luna's name, or giving out their unwanted opinions of what transpired that awful night. A few of them nodded kindly to Ginny and the boys as they walked through, as if to thank Luna, through them, for what she sacrificed so Kevin and Brendon could make it home safely. It made Ginny feel uneasy, but it was also better than what she had expected.

At the front of the class, Alecto was droning on in her gravely voice about Muggle's Medical Practices. Still riled up from lunch, Ginny was paying just enough attention to pick a fight.

"With next to no knowledge of the human body, muggles will often find themselves at a loss when confronted with an illness, and perform 'surgery' on each other. This process involves cutting into a living person, and looking for extra or missing organs." Alecto lectured.

"There's something we haven't thought of," Ginny mused, loud enough for the rest of the class to hear. "Maybe someone's made off with you brain, and you've failed to notice - " Alecto answered her with a flick of her wand, and Ginny felt the sting of a blade across her jaw.

"When this method fails, as it always does, the muggles will often give up, claiming that the ailment imaginary. To save face, they tell their patients to 'talk to someone,' as if the cure was a decent conversation." The Death Eater paused, as if she were waiting for Ginny to make a comment.

"Have you lost your place?" Ginny asked after a moment, staring her down. There was a tense moment before she continued, moving through several paragraphs of what Colin had once described as psychiatry.

"in an effort to prevent disease, Muggles inject themselves with a solution of bacteria and poisonous mercury, that - "

"And Wizards don't do the same? Have you never heard of Nightshade?" Ginny interrupted. "Baneberries? Venemous Tentacula? Lionfish Spine? The most powerful potions in the word nearly all contain _something_ that could kill you if not prepared correctly!" She couldn't stop herself from wincing this time, as she felt the sharp cut on her collarbone. Sean had turned around in his seat, but she refused to let him catch her eye.

"That's your last warning, Miss Weasley." Alecto threatened.

"Wouldn't you say drawing blood on a _warning_ is a bit more barbaric than eradicating deadly diseases through inoculation?" Ginny spat back, before she could stop herself.

* * *

After a hurried dinner, Ginny and Neville (who had apparently failed to hold his own tongue in Dark Arts class that afternoon) marched themselves to Amycus' office, where they were to serve their detentions together.

"Got anything left from you Skiving Snackboxes?" Ginny asked once they were alone in the corridors. "I'm all out, and I don't think Canary Creams will help much. Unless Goyle fancies trying his hand at transfiguration for once." Neville dug into his pocket and passed her a handful of purple and orange sweets, which she quickly hid in her robes.

But when they arrived at the Dark Arts classroom, there were no other students waiting for them. They looked to each other apprehensively for a moment, wondering if they had gotten the time wrong, before Neville stepped through the doorway.

"Wands out. Bags against the walls." Amycus' gruff voice instructed. All desks, stools, and chairs had been pushed to the edges of the room, so the center was clear. A pit formed in Ginny's stomach as they did as they were told.

Facing Amycus with their wands hands stiffly at their sides, they couldn't stop themselves from glancing around the empty classroom, waiting to be set upon.

"We won't be joined by any of your classmates today." Amycus drawled. "Our volunteers get more than enough practice. I've been waiting to get the two of you alone for months now."

Ginny's breath caught in her throat, knowing instantly what was coming. She chanced a glance sideways, and saw that Neville had drawn the same conclusion she had.

"Take your places opposite each other."

Neither of the Gryffindors moved a muscle.

"NOW!" Amycus shouted, raising his wand. Ginny felt her body get whipped to one side of the room, as Neville slammed against the opposite wall.

The thing they had been dreading since September, that every student knew would eventually come to pass since their first class with the Carrows, was finally happening.

"This will be a lot easier on both of you, if you do as you're told." Amycus said, although he was clearly enjoying their resistance. Ginny fixed her eyes on Neville. She knew Amycus, and so she knew that Neville would have to go first.

"It's alright" she mouthed, feeling her wand fly out of her hand as she was disarmed. She touched the Nosebleed Nougat in her pocket, ready to slip the orange half into her mouth if Neville chose to cast the spell.

"I won't." Neville said stubbornly, his hand gripping his own wand tightly.

"Then I _will._ Cruccio!"

Ginny clamped her mouth shut as she felt Amycus' curse spread through her body, doubling her over in pain. Amycus held the curse for a few seconds, letting her pick herself up off her knees only moments later.

"That's about the best we could hope for, coming from someone as weak willed as Mr. Longbottom. The alternative - " Ginny barely had time to brace herself this time, but it wouldn't have made a difference.

Amycus' curse hit her full-force, and it was at least as strong as Crabbe's had been. Scorching pain was sent through every nerve in her body, blinding her to everything but the raging fire inside her.

And then it stopped, and she was on the floor.

As soon as she regained control, she returned to her feet. She felt sore and weak, but refused to give Amycus the satisfaction of seeing it. Her eyes found Neville's blanched, determined face across the room, and she nodded to him.

They had talked about this in DA meetings, that one day, the Carrows would have the power to force this upon their students. Ginny was giving him her permission, using the little control they had left in their lives. Whatever he decided, she would forgive him.

"Do it." Amycus commanded.

Neville finally looked at Ginny, and she understood.

"I won't." He whispered.

Again, the fire burned through the marrow of her bones, contorting her muscles as she collapsed once more.

"Are you enjoying this, Mr. Longbottom? Do you _like_ hearing her scream?" Amycus asked cruely, turning his wand back to Ginny before she could fully register the mixture of horror and determination on Neville's face.

"Stop it!" He shouted when it finally stopped again, and Amycus grinned. Ginny stayed on her hands and knees, gasping for breath. "I won't do it! Just stop!"

"That's not how this works," Amycus answered.

And again.

"She _wants_ you to," Amycus sneered the next time he let up, a disturbing glint in his eyes, which were fixed on Ginny. " _Please! Neville, please!_ " his mocking voice parroted the words Ginny couldn't remember saying. Neville was shaking, his eyes locked onto her.

"It's alright, you don't - "

She was cut off by her own screams.

"How many times must she _beg_?" She could barely hear Amycus this time, the ringing in her ears was masking the sound of his voice. Ginny wasn't sure how much longer she could stand it, how many times she could subject her body to the repetitive, unrelenting abuse before it gave in.

Staggering, she pulled herself back to her feet, standing as straight as she could manage.

"Cru - "

"EXPULSO!"

Blue lightning shot from Neville's wand, straight into Amycus' chest. The Death Eater was sent flying across the room, where he collided with his own desk and disappeared behind it.

"Neville!" Ginny gasped hoarsely, as they both stood frozen to the spot. She had never seen him look so furious.

"Get McGonagall, or Flitwick." She instructed, feeling her mind clear completely for the first time in what felt like an eternity. " _NOW!_ Before Alecto shows up!"

Ginny stumbled to place where Amycus had been standing, and picked up both fallen wands. She could feel Neville waiting by the door until she secured the still unconscious figure in a Body Bind curse.

Never before had Ginny stood so still for so long, with one hand braced against the wall, the other pointing both wands at Amycus' chest. She was sure that if she did move, she would not be able to restrain herself from using one of the hexes that were causing the wands to shiver against her fingers.

It was a calm fury that shot through her veins now, as she waited for Neville to return. Now was not the time to be rash, and she knew better than to make an attempt at fixing this on her own.

"Longbottom! Weasley!" McGonagall gasped from the doorway. "How did you – What did he - ?"

"He tried to make Neville use an Unforgivable. I've half a mind to give it a go myself now." Ginny answered venomously.

"Lock the door. Lower your wand." McGonagall instructed, instantly over the shock of finding two of her students holding a full grown wizard hostage in a half blown apart classroom. Ginny glared down at Carrow for a moment longer, before doing as she was told and handing the extra wand to McGonagall.

Neville had locked the door and stood like a century just behind the Professor, who seemed to have a strange air of satisfaction around her. Finally, she rolled up her sleeves and stepped closer to her comatose colleague.

"You'll have each put up decent fight, but given in in the end." She informed them firmly. "Don't argue, Longbottom, unless you have another solution?" When both Neville and Ginny nodded, she raised her wand.

" _Obliviate_."

McGonagall's hand moved with fine precision, as though she were manipulating a delicate instrument with the tip of her wand. "He should sleep until morning." She said finally.

A heavy silence fell over the room as the weight of what had happened sunk in. McGonagall stood, and surveyed the damage surrounding them.

"You did well." She said, simply. When Ginny turned to her, she saw a look on pride on her face. Ginny hadn't doubted hers or Neville's actions in the slightest, but it was something to hear a Professor, and a member of the Order, reaffirm them.

"I'll move _him,_ and keep the other Death Eaters out of the way. You two keep out of sight until the end of your detentions." McGonagall continued, disillusioning Amycus' frozen body. "And _try_ to undo some of the damage here, before you leave."

McGonagall sealed the door behind herself as she levitated the nearly invisible figure in front of her. Ginny let out her breath, and turned to Neville, who was sitting against a wall at the other side of the room.

As the adrenalin ebbed its way out of her system, Ginny found it shockingly difficult to make her way over to him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his eyes were glassy as he crouched, his chin resting on his knees.

"Don't you apologize for what he's done." Ginny scolded gently, collapsing beside him at last. "We knew this was coming, I was ready either way."

"I couldn't – I don't think I ever could - "

"I _know_ Neville, and I'm sorry if I asked you to," she sighed. She heard him mutter something that sounded a lot like 'Colin would have.'

"I imagine he would have." Ginny answered cooly, turning slightly to stare him down. "And I'd never have held it against him, just like I'll never hold this against you. Amycus Carrow is a sick bastard, who wanted to make both of us suffer tonight. He _knows_ what those Death Eaters did to your parents, so he knew exactly how to get to you."

"But I - "

" _No_ Neville!" Ginny would not hear this. She would not let him give in. "You tried for weeks to take Harry and Ron's place after they left, now it's my turn. If it'd been Harry here instead of me, he'd be telling you that you were _brave_. Ron's an idiot and would have said something stupid, but not really meant it."

Neville parted his lips, as if he wanted to contradict her, but didn't.

" _Thank you."_ She closed her eyes, letting her head flop onto his shoulder as exhaustion finally took over. "Now, be a dear and clean up the mess you've made saving me, we can argue while we stumble back to the common room."


	25. Chapter 25 - Light of the Moon

Word of terrible and secret things always seemed to find its way to the students of Hogwarts, and the events of Neville and Ginny's detention was no exception. Fortunately, nobody seemed to be able to say for sure if Neville had given in to Amycus' demands or not, and the few who were told, knew better than to make any sort of comment. At the very least, it gave everyone something other than Luna to talk about.

For the first time since Ginny had known him though, Neville wasn't himself. She watched as his eyes slid in and out of focus during Potterwatch the following evening, and he didn't even seem to notice the pack of second years chatting next to him during the broadcast. As the unavoidable questions started pouring out after Lee signed off, Ginny tried to keep them directed away from him as best she could.

"What Neville and I did, or didn't do, in detention is _not_ the point." Ginny explained. "Nobody can tell you what to do if you're in that sort of situation, and I doubt any of you will react the way that you think you will. The best you can do is to understand that no matter what happens, you're both going to get hurt, one way or another."

Neville looked up at the sound of his name, seemingly clearing his head with a shake.

"So what, we're supposed to just _hope_ it doesn't happen, and wing it if it does?" Zacharias challenged. Neville closed his eyes for a moment, as though he was gathering strength to answer him calmly. As he drew breath, Sean placed a hand on his shoulder, taking over.

"Of course not. Talk to your friends, listen to each other. If it does happen to you, or you think it might happen to you, or another student, find one of us." Sean said. "The last thing we need is for us to start turning against each other because of something we can't control."

"What if… what if that person isn't in the DA?" Grant Page, the keeper for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team asked. Ginny cocked an eyebrow at him, but Sean beat her to it.

"If you think they're in danger, tell us, or McGonagall." He said simply. Grant still seemed to be struggling slightly, and Ginny remembered who he and Luna had Muggle Studies with.

"You mean, what if they're in Slytherin?" She challenged. His silence was all the answer they needed.

"If they're in danger, bring them to us, or McGonagall. If they won't listen, go to Slughorn." Sean repeated, confused. "If you're going to condemn someone for how they were sorted, you might as well condemn them for their blood status." There was an awkward silence as some of the students shuffled their feet, but nobody said any more.

"Right, no more questions?" Ginny asked. "Let's split up then, one experienced dueler against two to three beginners." The usual rumble of activity followed as small groups spread themselves out in the Room of Requirement.

"Dueling against a Death Eater is a lot different than dueling against your mates." She said, as she began pacing the room. "Always pair up if you can, because they have a lot more experience than you, and they don't care if they kill you or not."

For the rest of the meeting, Ginny walked among the students, correcting their spellwork and stance, but also how they interacted with their partners.

"You're left handed, position yourself so you're protecting your partner's blind spot, and they'll protect yours." Ginny instructed one of the younger Gryffindors.

"Very well done!" She said, as a pair of fourth years disarmed Jack. "Now split yourself up with someone you haven't worked with before - You can't count on having your best mate to pair up with, we need to be able to adapt to new partners."

* * *

Ginny stared down at her latest Transfiguration essay, which seemed to be covered in more red ink than black.

"I'll need you to see me after class." Professor McGonagall said, a little louder than Ginny thought was needed. The expected chorus of "ooo's" from her classmates followed, but she didn't tell them off with McGonagall staring down at her. She nodded, and quickly shoved the parchment out of sight into her bag.

It wasn't like she could pretend she was surprised though. Every minute that she wasn't in classes, she was planning and running DA meetings. Any evenings that were free of detentions and meetings were spent on the Quidditch pitch, and, not surprisingly, there was very little time left, if any, for studying.

She spent the rest of the class trying to concentrate on the lesson, while ignoring Colin, who kept nudging her foot every few minutes. It was hard to tell if he was trying to offer her support, or wanted her to explain something neither of them understood. Finally, the other students were dismissed, and Ginny made her way to McGonagall at the front of the room, while Colin hovered at the door.

"Let's get this out of the way, Miss Weasley." She began, not unkindly. "Your marks in my class have been slipping all year. You've gone from an E and O student, to regularly submitting Poor essays. If you fall much further behind, you will not be able to catch up by the end of the year."

Excuses flooded into Ginny's mind, but she didn't bother uttering a single one. McGonagall knew exactly what her extracurricular activities included, and reminding her wouldn't have helped.

"From looking at your work, you seem to have misunderstood two or three key points earlier in the term. Mr. Peakes does well in my class, you could ask him to help you review." She paused for a moment, and looked Ginny up and down before continuing.

"If Mr. Peakes in unavailable, speak to Miss Bainbridge or Mr. Malfoy. They're both -

"MALFOY?" Ginny choked before she could stop herself. "A _Death Eater?_ You want me to ask a Death Eater to go over my homework?"

"He's the top of his year, and it may be best to have an older student tutor you." McGonagall continued, pursing her lips.

"I'll talk to Sean." She said, as calmly as she could. Suggesting Tabitha Bainbridge was one thing, the Slytherin girl was being bullied by the Carrows nearly as much as her blood-traitor classmates. But Draco Malfoy?

"Miss. Noel and Mr. Bradley would be acceptable as well." McGonagall finished.

"I'll ask them if Sean doesn't have time." She answered, a little more sharply than was probably appropriate. She hoisted her bag onto her shoulder, and was about to turn to leave with Colin, when McGonagall raised a hand to stall her.

"Is the door closed, Mr. Creevey?" She asked. Ginny's eyes snapped to Colin, who nodded, then back to McGonagall.

"You've heard something?" She demanded immediately, watching as McGonagall raised her wand, and pointed it at a small trunk tucked away in a corner.

"They sent a message early this morning. We're getting word to her father in Azkaban." McGonagall said, as the lid sprang open. Colin gasped as a silver hare leaped out, and bounded across the room, stopping in front of them.

"I'm alright, I'm alive." Luna's voice filled Ginny's ears, and she felt her heart swell. "I miss you all."

And then it was gone. The pale, faded patronous dissolved into wisps of shimmering smoke. Overwhelmed with relief, Ginny flung her arms around Professor McGonagall, nearly knocking her over. A second passed before she felt a hand gently pat her upper back, and she remembered herself, and let go.

When she looked up, she was surprised to see McGonagall smiling at her. Ginny quickly rubbed the dampness out of her own eyes.

"Why was it so... dull?" Colin asked.

"The preservation charm has no affect after just a few hours." McGonagall answered simply. Neither student needed to ask what that meant.

 _But she's alive,_ Ginny reminded herself. _She's alive, and she's strong enough to cast a patronous, no matter how faded. She hasn't lost hope._

McGonagall ushered them off to their next classes before they had a chance to ask any more questions, Colin rushing off to the greenhouses to meet Neville and Sean before Herbology.

The news of Luna's survival was like a light inside Ginny's chest, it was just enough to continue the fight. This time though, fighting had little to do with the DA. Fighting was getting herself out of bed early enough to care what she looked like in the mornings, and swallowing her pride so she could ask Sean to catch her up in Transfiguration. She was fighting so she could show Neville she _was_ alright, and getting the Gryffindor Quidditch team back into shape after all of their distracted practices.

She watched her team run through their drills that Saturday, confident they were playing better than they had since their return from holidays. Colin and Sean joined them on the grounds for the last half hour, the flash of Colin's camera catching Ginny's eye every few minutes.

After dismissing the rest of the team, Ginny made her way over to where Sean was sitting in the stands, quietly taking a seat next to him. Neither of them spoke for a while. Instead, they watched as Colin snapped his camera at Jimmy and Dennis, who were showing off for him.

Glancing sideways at Sean, Ginny saw his lips were parted ever so slightly, curling into the the kind of smile you don't even notice if you're not looking properly. Despite the war, and the risk they were all taking just by attending school, she'd caught him in a moment of blissful ignorance and happiness, as he watched the others tease each other playfully.

* * *

Sean had been sitting in nearly the exact same spot less than a year before, watching Jimmy and his fellow beater, Richie Coote, coach little Dennis Creevey. The Quidditch Season had ended weeks ago, but the three Gryffindor boys were already training to get Dennis on the team in September.

Colin tried his best to ignore the knot in his stomach as he walked over to the stands, as casually as he could. His black camera bag slung over his shoulder was the perfect excuse to join Sean. Not that he really needed an excuse, they were friends - sort of. They'd worked together in Herbology more often than not, and their younger brothers being best friends made them friends by association, after all.

 _Don't freak out,_ he thought to himself. _Just keep your cool, and don't be an idiot._

"I don't know if Dennis'll want pictures of this," Sean joked as Colin finally came within earshot. "There seems to be a lot more yelling and falling than usual today."

"Oh, well, it's a nice day anyways." Colin answered, fidgeting with the clasp on his bag as he sat down. _The weather? You're talking about the weather!_

"You ever play?"

"I don't like heights. I tried to drop astronomy when I made the mistake of looking over the edge of the tower in first year." Sean answered, shaking himself a little at the memory. Colin laughed and relaxed a little.

"You like astronomy?" he asked, before remembering he hadn't done well in the subject himself.

"Probably more than most," Sean said, taking his eyes off their brothers for the first time. "I like the Muggle stories about the stars and planets and constellations. Ever read them?"

"Some, but they were mostly depressing ones about lovers being banished to either side of the universe." Colin said, doing his best to think back to primary school. Sean chuckled lightly and leaned back on his elbows, tilting his deeply tanned face towards the sun.

"You should hear the versions Luna Lovegood tells us when Sinistra's not paying attention. I think she actually made Zacharias blush last week." At the sound of Luna's name, Colin found himself ready to jump to her defense, but stopped himself just in time to realize he hadn't called her 'Loony.'

Slowly, what Colin had worried would be the most awkward conversation of his life became easy. He couldn't remember why he'd been so nervous before, why he thought that talking to him without the distraction of some oozing plant or a pair of cussing brothers would be any different.

As the sun sank lower in the sky, neither of them noticed that Dennis had managed to stay on his broom for a full hour, and catch several of the projectiles the beaters had hurled in his direction. It wasn't until Jimmy called over his shoulder that they even realized the three younger boys were halfway back to the castle.

"Colin?" Sean asked, suddenly looking quite shy, and Colin felt his cheeks grow warm. "I was wondering… did you want me to walk you back to your common room?"

Colin was caught off his guard, and suddenly realized that he'd lost the ability to make words come out of his gaping mouth.

"Nevermind, it's fine, forget it." Sean said hurriedly, nearly dumping Colin's camera out of its bag in his haste to pick it up for him. Both boys scrambled to catch it at the same time. Colin's relief at grabbing the strap was nothing compared to his panic when he realized it was also tangled with Sean's hand.

"But I do mind," Colin blurted without thinking, pulling his camera and hand free. "I mean, I'd mind if you didn't – or did… er – fuck."

He couldn't believe he was making such a fool of himself, in front of Sean Peakes no less.

"I'm being an idiot." Colin muttered, sitting down again in defeat.

"I think it's fair to say we're both being idiots," Sean offered as he joined him. "but you first."

"I'm Muggle Born." Colin mumbled under his breath.

"Well, seeing as Dennis is, I did assume… sorry." Sean stopped himself. He seemed to have gained confidence after seeing Colin fumble. "But I don't care. I'm a little put off you'd think I would."

"I didn't!" Colin answered quickly. "It's not you, it's – it's just not _safe._ "

"Nothing's safe right now." Sean reasoned, "I'm not going to drop my friends because they're Muggle Borns, that'd _really_ make me an idiot. And I'm not going to give up on someone I happen to like because of it either."

He said it almost like an afterthought, and Colin stared at him, dumbstruck once again.

"But-"

"Did you want me to walk you to Gryffindor tower?" Sean interrupted. He was firmer this time, it was more of a challenge than a question. Colin chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying to think.

It wasn't like they'd be making grand announcements that Sean Peakes had walked him to his dorm – there wasn't really anything to announce, anyways. They'd be going home in a few weeks too, so if things continued…

If.

If they continued, he could be putting Sean and Jimmy, and their whole family, in danger. If this fizzled out, they'd both be able to get over this crush they'd been dancing around all year. If it worked out though, they'd be making each other happy.

Colin looked up and realized that Sean was standing once more, his hand outstretched, waiting for him to take it. It was dark enough, nobody looking out onto the grounds would see.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Colin decided, letting Sean pull him to his feet.

It took three times longer than usual to get back to Gryffindor Tower that night, Colin sneaking them through secret passageways to avoid Peeves and Filch along the way.

When they were only minutes away from the Portrait Hole, Colin pretended to have heard footsteps nearby. They ducked into an alcove and waited, their hands still clasped together tightly, until it was obvious nobody was coming.

Colin liked that he had to stand on his tip toes to kiss Sean.

All the while, Ginny had been lounging on her usual couch with Harry, as she tried to study for her Charms O.W.L.

"You're doing it again," she informed him, as his breath tickled the back of her neck.

"I'm sorry," Harry answered, kissing her shoulder. Because _that_ helped. "But I happen to like breathing. I'm good at it."

They both jumped as Colin burst into the room and skidded to a halt in front of the couple.

"GINNY!" He jumped onto the arm of the couch, looking like he was about to explode.

"COLIN!" Harry shouted back, causing his girlfriend to roll her eyes.

"Upstairs, please? NOW?" Colin begged. He was almost vibrating with excitement and energy. "It's – he – I – "

" _Him_?" Ginny asked, as Colin grabbed her arm and started tugging, nodding his head violently. He'd clamped his mouth shut tight, as though he was afraid his secret might slip out on its own.

"Study break!" She announced, scrambling up to join him. She paused for a second at the foot of the staircase before running back to kiss a bemused Harry, then followed Colin up the steps to his dormitory.

"I've been suggesting a study break for _hours!_ " Harry protested half heartedly, but nobody was paying him any attention anymore. Ginny leaped onto Colin's bed and closed the curtains securely around them before listening to him repeat every detail of his evening.


	26. Chapter 26 - Goodbyes

Ginny had taken to waking Colin up early on Mondays and Thursdays, so they could spend their mornings off studying in the Library or Great Hall. It worked fairly well, especially as a number of their classmates usually joined them after being roused by Ginny's unrestrained efforts at dragging their half-asleep dorm mate out of bed.

Sean had managed to decipher where Ginny had gone off-course with Transfiguration by now, but having Amber and Christian to study with helped to keep her from getting frustrated.

"Weasley!" Seamus called across the great hall, slightly out of breath. The sixth years checked their watches and looked up in confusion, as classes weren't due to be dismissed for another half hour.

"Neville said to come get you, it's Hagrid – " Seamus explained, jogging up to their table. Ginny didn't need telling twice, she threw her textbook, parchment and quills into her bag, and followed Seamus out of the hall, Colin on her heels.

"What's happened to him?" She asked, once they'd reached the grounds. From the steps of the castle, nothing looked out of the ordinary at the Groundskeeper's cabin. "Should we get McGonagall?"

"It's what's _going_ to happen that we're worried about," Seamus said. "You wouldn't believe me if I told ya, anyways." A thousand possibilities were spouting uninvited into Ginny's head, most of which included Grawp, or something akin to a Blast-Ended Skrewts.

As they approached the Forbidden Forrest, they saw that most of Seamus' class was congregating at the edge of the vegetable patch. Ginny made a b-line for the seventh years, but Seamus grabbed her arm.

"Not over there, they're fine," He said, and Ginny saw that he was steering them towards the cabin, where Hagrid and Neville seemed to be having some sort of discussion.

"Morning Ginny, Colin." Hagrid called out cheerily as he saw them approach. Neville turned to greet them, looking frustrated. "'Bin meaning to ask yeh something."

Neville stepped back with his arms crossed across his chest, and eyebrows raised.

"I 'bin thinkin', about what you lot've done up at the school, with the Entrance Hall and posters and all," Hagrid began. "An' I'd like to help."

"Er – What did you have in mind?" Ginny asked cautiously, while Neville shook his head out of Hagrid's line of sight.

"Just a little get-together before you all go away for the Easter Holidays. A bit of a party." Hagrid was getting excited, but Ginny was still wary.

"That sounds… who would you be inviting?"

"Tha's the best part, it'd be open to anyone who wants to come and show their support for Harry!" Hagrid said, his face split into a grin. Ginny stared at him, not quite sure if he was being serious.

"Hagrid…" Ginny began, unsure of exactly how to respond.

"That's _mental!_ " Colin exclaimed.

"It's not!" Hagrid argued back. He looked genuinely shocked that they were not as excited for this plan as he was. "There's a lot 'o bad stuff going on, we should be doing something to support Harry!"

"Harry won't _care_ if you have a party for him," Neville was sounding exasperated now.

"It's not just for Harry though, is it?" Hagrid continued, seemingly unphased. "When kids go home, they forget that they're not alone, that the rest of us are still fightin'. I was thinking, if we could throw a big party - "

"How big, Hagrid?" Ginny asked, bracing herself.

" – They'd remember a little better." Hagrid finished.

"That'd actually be really great," Colin mused, much to Neville's surprise, but Ginny knew better. "Because then, at least we'll have a nice party on our last night of freedom before we get chucked into Azkaban."

Seamus snorted.

They tried to make Hagrid see reason, but eventually had to go in search of Sean, hoping he would have better luck while the rest went off to their next classes.

"What are we going to do, if he goes ahead with it?" Colin asked, halfway through Charms. They both kept glancing out the window, but it was no use.

"Plan a DA meeting for that night for starters," Ginny answered. She'd been brainstorming ideas since they'd left the cabin. "That should dissuade most of the students, once they know we're not behind it."

"And Hagrid? When he gets caught flying a _Support Harry Potter_ pennant over his hut?" He pressed.

"Then it's his own stupid fault." She grumbled, checking the wand movement for the spell they were working on. Colin raised his eyebrows skeptically, and Ginny sighed in defeat.

"Fine, we'll tell McGonagall. But only because I don't want to get stuck looking after Grawp."

"Liar."

"Oh shut up," She retorted, before successfully expelling water from the tip of her wand.

* * *

Ginny and the others tried to keep a close eye on Hagrid, but he showed no sign of going ahead with his plans, and meant that they soon became distracted again by the DA, homeowork, and, in Ginny's case, Quidditch.

The team had been thirty points behind Hufflepuff when Dennis won their last match by catching the snitch. Ginny actually found herself wishing that Fiona could play as well as Ron could, when he was at his best. She would have to spend a lot of time with the Keeper if they were going to beat Ravenclaw in May, something which Michael Corner had mentioned near her no less than three times since.

"You're _not_ quitting the team, you just need more practice." Ginny said, talking Fiona down after she had overheard Michael's comments over breakfast a few days before Easter Holidays.

"That fourth year from tryouts can have my spot, or Kirk or Sloper - "

"I don't have time to train up another Keeper, and they're nowhere near as good as you were when you joined the team." Ginny interrupted. "You had one bad game, just promise me you'll practice over the holidays and think about - "

But Ginny stopped herself when she heard Harry's name from behind her. She whipped around, grabbing a third year Ravenclaw girl by the arm as she passed.

"What did you say?" She asked, trying to keep calm. Nobody was stupid enough to talk about Harry in the great hall, where so many Death Eaters could evesdrop.

"N-nothing!" The younger girl stammered, trying to pull her arm free. Ginny held on just tightly enough to keep her from leaving. "Just some stupid rumor some of the Slytherins are spreading."

"What rumor?" Ginny demanded, suddenly panicked. There hadn't been a Potterwatch broadcast in days, she had no idea what was going on outside of Hogwarts.

"About a – a trap to catch… well, you know…" The girl gestured to Neville, who had noticed the altercation. Ginny stared at her, trying to compel her into elaborating.

"They're trying to trick people by saying there's some gathering for people who follow Potter, as if we'd be that stupid." The girl's friend offered with a scoff.

"When?" Colin asked as he removed Ginny's hand from the Ravenclaw's robes. He seemed to have understood something that Ginny hadn't caught yet.

"Well it's obviously a trick. They're trying to get Potter's supporters to go to some stupid party at Hagrid's hut on Friday, so they can - "

"He didn't…" Ginny breathed, looking at the others, hoping they would offer some other explanation.

Ginny raced out of the hall, not caring who was following her across the grounds.

Hagrid's door had been blasted off its hinges, and the vegetable patch was still smouldering despite the early spring chill in the air.

"They must have come for him early this morning, after everyone had a chance to get to sleep after detentions." Sean reasoned as he emerged from the small house. "Fang's gone, that's a good sign."

"And that," Colin added, pointing out the Grawp-sized gap in the trees Ginny had failed to notice.

"He probably told a few students in his last class about that stupid party, how did he think he'd be able to stop Snape and the Carrows from finding out?" Neville groaned.

Ginny wasn't sure if she felt more relief, or satisfaction when she walked into Dark Arts class and noticed that Amycus' arm was heavily bandaged, and the left side of his face looked like it had collided with a giant's fist.

Their compartment on the Hogwarts Express was unusually quiet that Saturday, the excitement of confirming Hagrid's escape was dampened by the feeling of finality that had become normal whenever the students left Hogwarts. Most of them had come to terms with the reality that it may not be safe for many of their number to return to Hogwarts after the holidays. Ginny had charmed the inside of her school bag to nearly triple its original size, and filled it to bursting with every textbook she owned, and her most treasured belongings she couldn't risk leaving behind, just in case.

And so she sat, re-reading the last chapter they had covered in Transfiguration, trying to pretend she was confident she would be handing in her essay in two weeks' time.

"I got a letter from my cousin last week," Sean's voice was almost too casual, as if he had been rehearsing this conversation in his head. "Sounds like they finally finished moving into their new house. She says it's huge, four bedrooms for just the two of them, plus a carriage house over the garage."

"That's your cousin Sarah, the one in British Columbia?" Colin asked, a little suspiciously.

"Yeah. She said Jason wants to fix up the apartment and rent it out to some uni kids or something. Help out with the mortgage, you know?" There was very little subtlety left in Sean's voice, and he turned to look at Colin directly. Ginny was finding it harder and harder to decipher her Transfiguration notes.

"And you think Dennis and I should pack up over Easter and take dad to Canada?" Colin asked in disbelief. The compartment went silent for a moment.

"We all want - " Sean took a deep breath, his eye downcast.

"What do mean _we_?" Colin asked, a little hotly. Ginny quietly closed her textbook and began packing her notes into her bag.

"That's not what I meant, when Sarah was here over the Christmas, she said we'd be welcome- " Sean looked slightly panicked.

"Well tell her thanks, but no thanks." Colin interrupted. From his expression, he clearly thought that he had gotten the final word.

"I'm going to go walk with Neville," Ginny announced, tucking Arnold into the crook of her neck as she stood.

"What? Why?" Colin seemed genuinely confused.

"Because, I don't want to sit here and eavesdrop on your row." She had already opened the compartment door and was halfway into the corridor.

"We aren't having a row!" Colin protested. Ginny turned and narrowed her eyes at her best friend in disbelief.

"You _are_ having a row, and I _am_ leaving." She hissed, despite the empty hallways. "Now, I'm going to shut this door, cast _muffliato_ , and leave. YOU are going to stop being a prat and have whatever discussion Sean is trying to have."

She turned on her heel and shut the door firmly before Colin had a chance to answer her. She would leave them to fight it out, and come back to help Colin pull himself out of whatever hole he ended up digging himself into.

She roamed the corridors for a while, stopping to sit with Curtis Bradley and his group of friends for a while, and then moved on to wish Demelza, Amber and Romilda a good holiday. She did find Neville, but he and Hannah Abbot seemed to be occupied with a gaggle of second years who had apparently decided to practice dueling in their compartment. After popping in to offer a hand, she left the Prefects to deal with the younger students, although it was difficult to restrain from complimenting a particularly good jelly-legs jinx.

When she saw the lunch trolley start to make its way through the corridor, Ginny decided it was probably safe to head back. She bade Christian and the other Gryffindor boys farewell and started to make her way to the next car, when she almost ran into Sean.

"I just saw the- you okay?" She asked when she saw the look on the tall boy's face.

"Fine."

"Liar."

"I just need a walk." Sean insisted. Ginny looked him up and down, chewing on her bottom lip. "It's fine. I just want to cool off."

"How much trouble should he be in when I get back?" She asked as seriously as she could, keeping her voice low. Sean just shook his head.

"I'm going to go check on Jimmy and Dennis." Ginny reached out her arm to stop him, but the look on his face made her change her mind.

"Okay, but make sure they come to our compartment when we get close to King's Cross. We're getting off the train _together._ " She reminded him, giving his arm a squeeze.

Sean had left the compartment door open a crack when he left, which Ginny took to be a good sign. At least it wasn't so bad that he'd slammed it behind him.

"Did you decide anything?" She asked, making Colin jump.

"Yes, we decided I'm staying. Sean's going to talk to Dennis so he can make up his own mind." He grumbled. Ginny sat down across from him.

"Dennis is getting to be more independent, but you and I both know he'll do whatever you decide to do." Ginny said.

"That's fine, and even if he didn't stay for me, he'd stay anyways." Colin wasn't usually the stubborn type. "You don't get it, Ginny. Neither of you do."

"My family's in as much danger as yours!" Ginny protested. "My parents are both members of the Order, Ron's on the run with the most wanted man in the wizarding world, who also happens to be my boyfriend, and that's not even mentioning Bill's lycanthropy or the twin's joke shop!"

"That isn't what I meant. Just, nevermind." Colin muttered, turning away from her.

"I will mind! I'm not getting off this train until you _talk_ to me." Ginny said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest. The two stared at each other, until Colin finally gave in. He was less practiced at being bull-headed.

"It's different for Dennis and I. After I got my Hogwarts letter, I refused to sleep for days, because I was afraid that when I woke up, and this would all be a dream." Colin explained. "Then I came to Hogwarts, and it finally sunk in that this world was real and special, and I was a part of it."

Ginny stayed quiet, unsure of how to react. She'd always known that Hogwarts meant more to Harry, because how could it not be to someone who'd grown up under the same roof as the Dursleys? But she'd never expected that Colin and the other muggle borns would have such an intense attachment to the school as well.

"It was a complete fluke that I ended up a part of this world, a coincidence of genetics. But it's my world now too, and I'm not giving it up." Colin finished.

"You don't have to give it up, it's not like wizards only exist in Britain. And if you do decide to go, it won't be forever. We're going to win the war, and once we do, Dean and Ted all the others who've gone into hiding or abroad will come back home." Ginny insisted.

"You sound like you want me to go!"

"Of course I don't want you to go!"

"So stop trying to make me!"

"Colin," Ginny said, taking a deep breath. "I can't make this choice for you, and neither can Sean, and you can't make it for Dennis." She moved to sit next to him when she saw he was fighting back tears.

"But I _can't_! I don't want to have to choose," he hiccupped. Ginny wrapped her arms around him and squeezed for a second, feeling Colin take a deep breath.

"Sarah told Sean that he and I could have the flat. Just the two of us." He sounded completely dumbfounded. "There would be space for all three parents in the house, and Dennis and Jimmy would share a room." Ginny was at a loss for words.

"Do you want to go?" She asked finally, unable to think of anything else to say.

"No, but I want to be with _him,_ and I want Dennis to be safe." He choked. "But I can't just leave when everyone is fighting for us to be able to stay. I can't leave you and-"

"Colin, don't," Ginny warned, swallowing hard and trying to sound stern. "Don't use me as your excuse. I'll be fine. And I'd never be angry at you for leaving if it meant you would be _safe_." She thought back to all the times she'd been frustrated at Harry and the others for leaving her behind, and instantly felt guilty. She'd been selfish, not realizing she'd been making Colin feel guilty about taking his family to safety.

"I still can't expect everyone else to fight for our rights while we hide on the other side of the world." Colin was rubbing his eyes fiercely with the heel of his hand. Ginny stared down at her lap to steady herself.

"What did you tell Sean when he told you about the flat?" She asked finally. Colin avoided her eye when he answered.

"I told him he wasn't being fair, asking me to choose him over my whole world. He got mad and said he was going to leave before he said something stupid. I'm glad he did, because I almost said something stupid too." Ginny waited patiently for him to continue. "I can't go, and I hate that he doesn't get that. But if he tells me I have to choose…"

"You'd leave everything behind to follow him." Ginny finished when he grew silent. Colin nodded and rested his head on her shoulder, defeated.

Sean, Jimmy, and Dennis didn't show up until the train had started to slow down on its approach to King's Cross. Ginny checked that they all had their DA coins in their pockets before hugging each of the boys in turn. Even Jimmy didn't make a fuss about it as they said their goodbyes. All throughout the train, students began nervously making their way out of compartments in small groups. Last of all, Ginny pulled Colin in close.

"I'll fight for you every day, whether you can be here or not." She whispered into his neck, hugging him tightest of all. Silently, she prayed he would go to Sarah's house, but at the same time, she knew that Sean could never bring himself to give him the ultimatum. Finally, she let him go, holding tightly to his hand as she led everyone out onto the platform. Sean was gripping Colin's other hand, and Jimmy and Dennis were both holding tightly to the back of their brother's robes. It probably would have felt quite ridiculous if they weren't all so afraid.


	27. Chapter 27 - Aunt Muriel's

Ginny rolled over and vowed to curse Fred and George as she pressed a pillow over her ears an hour after she had finally fallen asleep. Already annoyed with her brothers for sneaking off do a Potterwatch broadcast without her, they were testing her temper by making an absurd amount of noise upon their return.

There was a pounding at her door now, and Ginny had had enough. She flew out of bed to give them a piece of her mind, expecting them to have another stupid joke shop product to show off.

"IT'S TWO O'CLOCK IN THE BLOODY – Bill?" She stopped in her tracks and stared blankly at her eldest brother, a traveling cloak draped over his shoulders.

"Ron's been found out, get your things." He instructed before rushing up the stairs to their parents room. Ginny chased after him, and they met Arthur on the landing, brandishing his wand at them.

"They were been caught by snatchers," Bill explained as his father lowered his wand and Molly emerged behind her husband. Ginny's hand flew to her mouth and she felt her chest tighten as her mother cried out faintly.

"They're fine, they got out, and are with Fleur at the cottage." Bill added hurriedly. "But they were seen together, we've got to get you to Muriel's."

"How much time do we have?" Arthur asked, leading them upstairs as Molly rushed back into the bedroom to pack.

"They were with Bellatrix and the Malfoys, so if You-Know-Who doesn't know by now, he will soon. We probably have until he finishes torturing them for the escape before he sends someone after the families." They had moved into Ron's room, and Ginny helped Bill pull the school trunk full of Order paraphernalia into the hallway.

"Fred and George are staying at Lee Jordan's flat. Send them a message, we can get their things if they meet us at Murial's." Arthur said to Bill, who levitated the trunk down the stairs. Ginny felt a peculiar jolt as her father pulled Harry's rucksack out from under one of the beds and handed it to her.

"Take out what he won't miss, make room for the clothes Ron and Hermione left behind." He instructed. Ginny slung it over her back and grabbed an armload of Ron's clothes, wanting to get away from the stinking ghoul as quickly as she could.

She crammed as much as she could into the rucksack, leaving a pile of potions ingredients and schoolbooks on the floor in her room. Her own trunk still at school, she used Hermione's to pack things for both girls.

"Here," Bill made Ginny jump when he appeared suddenly at her door, throwing another rucksack at her. "Luna's with them, and Dean Thomas. They're both - "

"What? How? Were they - "

" _Later_ Ginny, we have to _move!_ " Bill interrupted. "They're at the cottage, can you pack some things for them? Dean looks about Ron's size."

"Are they okay? How's Luna?" She asked, throwing the pile of robes Ron had barely outgrown into the empty bag before adding some of her own for Luna.

"They'll be fine, now _hurry._ We're sending you and dad ahead while mum and I finish up here." Bill called over his shoulder as he flew back up the stairs. Ginny couldn't help grinning from ear to ear as she dug under her bed for Luna's Christmas gift, and placed it in her trunk next between Harry's photo album and the other three colourful packages.

The whirlwind of packing and bowling each other over in hallways continued as the four Weasleys rushed through nearly every room in the burrow. Bill had promised, out of earshot of Molly, to ride Sirius' motorcycle to Mike's shop and apparate from there once the rest of the family was on their way.

Even their departure was chaotic; Ginny was barely able to stay upright, she was covered in rucksacks and her school bag and gripping her father's hand while he held tightly to Ron's trunk with the other. Bill and Molly were still running around the house like mad, now casting protection charms that would at least slow down the Death Eaters when they eventually came.

Before she had even fully grasped that she was saying goodbye to her childhood home, that the Death Eaters would probably raze it to the ground, Ginny felt Arthur twist on his heel and pull her into the suffocating darkness. Without warning, she became overwhelmed with panic. The crushing weight of aparating – the tightening around her chest, eyes being forced back into her head, ear-drums being pushed deeper into her skull – it was all too similar to the cruciatus curse.

And then suddenly, everything was quiet and still.

Ginny steadied herself for a moment, and found herself wishing Arthur hadn't let go of her hand when they arrived. Shaking herself mentally, she hauled her luggage up the wide driveway leading to the large two story brick house. After all the commotion leaving the burrow, it was strange to be able to hear her breath, and the crunch of their footsteps on the gravel.

By the time she caught up to her father, he was ringing the doorbell for the second time, checking over his shoulder constantly.

"I sent a message ahead, she should know we're coming…" he muttered, fidgeting nervously with his watch.

"She's probably passed out from the - "

" _Ginny-_ " Arthur warned.

"Well it's true." She mumbled, as he rang the bell again.

Two loud cracks behind them made Ginny jump, and she whirled around with her wand drawn. She didn't drop it when she saw Fred and George strolling across the lawn towards them.

"Who was I paired with the first time I bested the two of you in a duel?" She asked, before Arthur had a chance.

"Luna, because you cheated the time you were paired with Colin." Fred answered without breaking his stride. "What's going on? Bill's message just said Ron and the others were caught, and escaped by the skin of their teeth."

"In true Potter fashion." George added.

"I'm not entirely sure myself yet." Arthur said. He walked down the steps towards Fred and George, leaving Ron's trunk at the door. "Help me activate the Fidelius Charm, then I need to go back and help your mother bring the rest of our things."

Ginny made a move to follow.

"You keep trying the door!" Arthur called back to her over his shoulder.

Ginny groaned and reached for the bell, jabbing it repeatedly until she heard someone moving towards the door. Then she pressed it once more, just to be sure.

"I heard you the first twelve times!" Muriel spat as she pulled the door open, glaring down her beaky nose at her great niece. "At my age, one doesn't _run_ to doors anymore. Where's your father?"

"Setting up protection charms with Fred and George." Ginny answered, biting back a comment about Muriel's failing hearing.

"Hmph. Well, come in then, and close the door, do you want me to freeze to death?" Muriel grumbled, leading her reluctantly inside. The ancient witch sat herself into a rather uncomfortable looking antique chair, and supervised as Ginny carted everything inside.

Muriel's house was everything the burrow was not. Everything about it was stiff, from the perfectly spaced windows on the front of the house, to the ancient polished furniture and stone patio that covered the majority of the back yard.

It was a relief when Fred and George let themselves in, at which point Muriel announced she was going back to her room to dress properly. Ginny got the impression she didn't want to stay in a room with the twins any longer than she had to. Ginny sat down on Hermione's trunk as the boys flopped onto the most comfortable looking chairs they could find.

"Did dad tell you anything else?" Ginny asked, hoping he'd heard something from Bill while she'd been packing.

"Nothing, and remind me to inform Ron he's been a great inconvenience to us," George grumbled. "I was three drinks in with this _gorgeous_ brunette in a muggle pub…"

"Don't worry about her, I saw Lee sweep in to pick up where you left off while we were on our way out the door." Fred assured his brother.

"Real gentleman, he is." George pouted.

Once Fred and George finished filling Ginny in on the details of their escapades in Muggle London, they had her recount everything Bill had said since he'd arrived at the burrow. Finally, the doorbell rang and Fred got up to let their parents in, returning with their eldest brother as well. Immediately, Bill was bombarded with questions about the teenagers who had arrived on his doorstep in the middle of the night.

"I need to get back and help Fleur settle everyone in," Bill sounded as exhausted and confused as the rest of them. "Then I'll come back and fill you all in."

Muriel scoffed from the doorway, causing everyone to turn towards her. "And leave us all sitting here in suspense all night? I think not!" Bill sighed and rubbed his hands over his face.

"I barely know more than you lot do," Bill tried to explain.

"William Weasley, if I am to be confined to my house away from the rest of the civilized world, I should at least be kept up on the goings-on." Muriel said haughtily.

"This isn't some gossip column in the Daily Prophet!" Ginny spat angrily.

"Ginny!" Molly scolded.

"You can't just leave us in the dark here, mate" George added.

"I'll tell you what I know, but you'll get more information the sooner I get back." He conceded. Arthur helped Muriel back into her chair as all eyes turned to Bill.

"Luna showed up first, Fleur took her inside and I went to help Dean and the house elf carry Mr. Ollivander up to the house." He began.

"Garrick Ollivander? We were all sure he'd been killed!" Muriel interrupted.

"I think another week in that cellar may have done him in, he barely made it up the stairs with the two of us helping." Bill replied.

"And Luna and Dean?" Ginny pressed.

"Luna was being kept with Mr. Ollivander for weeks, but she'll be alright after a few days of real food. Dean and Griphook – the goblin he and Ted had been traveling with - were caught by Snatchers, but aside from Griphook's broken leg they seemed to make it out relatively unscathed. They were brought to Malfoy Manor because they'd been caught by the same group as Ron, Harry and Hermione." Bill continued.

"Malfoy Manor?" Fred let out a low whistle. "Sorry we missed that fight, how'd they manage that one with all their ears intact?" Ginny didn't smile.

"I haven't quite figured that out yet, Luna's been the most talkative of the bunch, but she was one of the first ones out. She said Harry managed to summon the elf – called him Dobby I think - while Bellatrix had Hermione and Griphook upstairs." Ginny stomach clenched, she tried not to think of what Bellatrix Lestrange would do to a Muggle Born found in the company of Harry Potter.

"We'd just gotten the first three settled in when the rest of them showed up. Hermione was barely conscious, but the boys just had some scrapes and bruises. I haven't been able to talk to Harry yet, and Ron was too worried about Hermione to be making any kind of sense. Neither of them would say what Bellatrix did to her, or what they've been up to all year." Bill sounded frustrated again.

"You haven't seen Harry yet?" Ginny asked, confused and worried. It didn't make sense, she would have assumed Harry was in the thick of things, making sure his friends were alright and planning out his next move.

"The house elf was killed. He was digging a grave in the garden when I left." Bill answered softly.

"Oh." Was all Ginny could manage. Her throat felt tight as she cast her eyes down as the room grew still for the first time since they'd entered the house.

"It sounds like everyone's packed in pretty tightly right now." Molly said, breaking the silence. Ginny opened her eyes and saw that Fred and George remained solemn as well. "We should be able to make space here for a few more, shouldn't we Muriel?"

"Yes, I think so. We can put Garrick in the blue bedroom, once he's fit to travel." Muriel mused.

"Thanks, I'll go home and get him and Griphook ready, if you can spare another room?" Bill said, giving his great aunt a half-smile. Bill was probably the only person who could convince Muriel to invite a goblin to stay without her putting up a fuss.

It was nearly dawn by the time Bill was on his way, promising to return before breakfast with the Griphook and Mr. Ollivander. Ginny was physically and mentally exhausted, but there was too much to be done before she could even think about going back to bed.

Fred and George each grabbed Ginny by an arm and hoisted her to her feet as they half-listened to Muriel listing off rooms, ordering everyone around. There was a collective sigh of relief when she excused herself to retire to bed for the rest of the morning, leaving Molly in charge.

"Right then, I'll change the linens for Mr. Ollivander and Griphook, then start breakfast. You three go find yourselves rooms. Arthur, we should stay in the room across from Muriel, there's a larger closet we can keep the Order work in." Molly instructed.

"We're going to need somewhere to set up shop," George said, levitating a pair of the trunks in front of him. "We made arrangements to get our stock here, we can keep the business open by owl."

"Did you really?" Molly asked. It was hard to tell if she was proud or exasperated. "Well, Muriel hardly uses the back room off the kitchen, we'll empty that out tomorrow – or tonight I suppose."

Fred, George and Ginny set off to explore the house, with which Ginny was the most familiar of the three. Molly had dragged her and Ron along on lunch visits when their older brothers were all at Hogwarts, as Fred and George hadn't been allowed to set foot in the house in Ginny's memory.

Each room they looked at made Ginny wrinkle her nose, and it was decided that a particularly foul room with pink flowery wallpaper was to be re-named "The Umbridge Room" and would be reserved for Ron if he came to stay at Muriel's with them.

Fred and George finally settled on a larger room on the second floor, which was near enough to the stairs and far enough from Muriel's that they wouldn't be caught if they snuck down to their new store room at all hours of the night. Ginny was contemplating weather it would be wise to take the room next to theirs, when she spotted the narrow staircase at the end of the hall, leading up to what she remembered was the attic.

At the top of the stairs, she found a hallway that ran half the length of the house, with a door on either side, and one at the end. The ceiling was low enough that Ron would have had to slouch, but Ginny could stand at full height, even through the doorways. She made her way to the room at the end of the hall, and jiggled the door handle, lifting it a little and leaning against the door until the latch yielded.

The room was nearly a third of the size of the entire ground floor of the house, though the ceilings slanted up on a low angle, except for a six foot wide flat area that ran through the middle of the room and out into the hallway. There was one window on either side that popped out onto the roof, and several piles of objects covered in white dust cloths. Ginny peaked under the nearest one and found an old writing desk and a store of old trunks and boxes. After a little more digging, she found what looked to be the pieces of several old wooden beds and a modestly sized armoire.

Somewhere down below, Molly was calling everyone back down for breakfast. Ginny carefully removed the rest of the dust cloths and took a last look at her room. She would never admit it, but couldn't help but think how excited Luna would be to help her add some colour to the stained white plaster walls and ceiling.


	28. Chapter 28 - An Attempt at Normality

Bill had sent word that Fleur, or Harry, or some combination of the two, had decided to keep Griphook and Mr. Ollivander at Shell cottage for longer than expected. Despite their initial assessment that they would be well enough to travel, it sounded like the decision was out of Bill's hands, though no one could explain why.

Between their own protection spells and the Ministry scouring the country for members of the Order, communication with anyone outside of the large stone house was proving difficult.

Ginny had sent a message to Colin through the girl in the portrait, letting him know she was safe, and would not be on the train with him and the others. Colin had found the portrait in Diagon Alley when he had gone home for Christmas in their second year, but it was impossible to say how many others of the same girl existed in other wizarding homes, so that little reassurance was all that she dared to send. They had never imagined it could someday be their only way of communicating with each other.

Of course, the Order had ways of relaying important information, and Potterwatch nearly always seemed to be on top of the latest events, but for the most part, Ginny was left out of touch from all of her classmates and most of her brothers.

She spent the first three days at Muriel's begging to be allowed to visit Shell Cottage, or to have Luna and the others brought to the house until Griphook and Ollivander were well enough to travel. Molly shot her down consistently though, to the point where their arguments would end in stony, angry silent treatments whenever the two witches found each other in the same room.

"You've got to set your sight a little lower, Ginny" Fred advised after she stomped her way into the Weasley Wizard Wheezes store room one evening.

"I've tried, I haven't been able to send a letter or _anything_ to them!" Ginny snapped, grabbing a purple order form from the top of a pile.

"Well, maybe not lower then," George mused. "Try going a little… diagonally."

Ginny stared at him, wondering at which point over the last few days he had actually lost his sanity.

"We're all stuck here for now, and a conversation with your boyfriend isn't exactly something the Order is going to see as worth the risk."

"This isn't _just_ about Harry!" She argued, barely listening as she threw sweets into a Skivving Snackbox.

"Just trying to help." George shrugged. The three of them continued filling orders in relative silence, but Ginny's mind was reeling.

At first, she thought she might be able to convince Molly to let her practice Quidditch in the yard in exchange for letting up about Shell Cottage, but she dismissed the idea almost immediately. She knew that if she did get permission, her mother would use it as a means to get her out of the house during Order meetings, and there really wasn't much point to flying around on her own, especially if she couldn't charm balls so she could train. Not that Quidditch was what she wanted to be training for at the moment – and then it struck her.

By the time they were called for supper, she had formed a plan. She swallowed her pride and reeled in her temper, bidding her time until the moment was right.

That night, she forced herself to retire to her room early, before Fred and George's store room devolved into its usual anarchy. For the first time since it had been hastily packed at the burrow, she emptied Hermione's trunk in its entirety, which was of course less of a chore than she had anticipated, as Hermione was much more organized than Harry or any of the Weasley children.

Most of Ginny's clothes and personal belongings had already been messily sorted into the armoire and set of drawers she had uncovered earlier. She replaced the neat piles of her friends school robes, her personal items, and duplicate copies of the books Ginny had brought home from school. What Ginny was left with was her own bag of second hand books, quills, ink, parchment, several books Ginny didn't own, and a stack of what appeared to be Hermione's best essays, which she seemed to have been unable to part with until it became absolutely necessary.

Ginny's determined gaze fixated next on the large writing desk she had tucked under the south facing window. She had known it would become her classroom before long, but had stubbornly ignored its presence for days. Her own school books lined one side of its surface, while Hermione's were displayed handsomely on the window sill before her. Parchment, ink, and quills all found a place before long, and she was left sorting hers and Hermione's essays into piles by subject. She kept Hermione's on top of course, they would be more useful to her, and had significantly fewer corrections to them.

The moon had fully risen when Ginny finally found herself with only one item left to file away, and so she bent over a fresh sheet of parchment, quill in hand, with her Sixth Year time table before her. It took her four revisions before she was content with the result, feeling a twinge of guilt for all the times she had complained about how Professor McGonagall had arranged her schedules. Fitting everything in for one student was hard enough, she hated to think of how complicated it must be to coordinate hundreds of them.

She woke early the next morning, dressed and made her way downstairs while the rest of the house's occupants were still rustling around in their own rooms. As she passed through the second floor's hallways, she heard sounds of stirring in the room next to Fred and George's, remembering that Lee Jordan had been due to arrive late the night before.

Lee had not returned to Murial's since he had brought most of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes merchandise a few days before, and kindly refused Molly's offer of a place in the house. His plan was instead to remain nomadic, migrating from one safe wizarding dwelling to the next. He insisted this was the best way to keep vital information circulating, and make sure Potterwatch was answering everyone's questions with as much accuracy as possible.

Only Molly had beaten Ginny to the kitchen, though she seemed to be doing her best to pretend she had not heard her daughter take a seat at the table. That was fair, Ginny thought, they had not had a civil conversation with each other in days.

Breakfast would be her best chance, as Muriel always complained that the damp morning air made it impossible for her to leave her bed before ten o'clock, and so had a tray brought to her room. Her great aunt would be the one who would make the loudest argument against Ginny, if for no other reason than to make a loud argument.

"Morning," George yawned as he entered the kitchen and plunked himself into an empty seat. Arthur followed him in, holding a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Morning dear, the toast is ready to go on the table." Molly replied. George remained in his seat, levitating the teetering dish towards him as his mother finished with the eggs and bacon. Ginny got to her feet and took a stack of plates out of the nearby cupboard, making a point not to comment on her brother's lazy use of magic.

"You missed Lee coming in last night, Ginny" Fred said, as the last two wizards arrived.

"Sorry, Lee, hi," she smiled at him, offering him the space between her and George. "What's the news?"

"Nothing good of course, more people missing and dead, but there weren't any students directly involved in anything recent." Lee answered.

"And thank goodness for that!" Molly sighed from the other side of the room.

"We went through what to broadcast on the next Potterwatch when I got in last night, but Freddie said you were studying." Lee added, speaking directly to Ginny, which seemed to peak Molly's interest.

"Not really studying, just revising my old class timetable," Ginny took the final draft out of the pocket of her robes and laid it on the table. Arthur reached across and picked it up, glanced at it, and passed it to Molly.

"Didn't bother continuing with Muggle Studies, I don't have a suitable textbook for it. But I can use Hermione's copy of Confronting the Faceless for Defense Against the Dark Arts, I doubled those classes, because we haven't covered any of the defense curriculum."

"And because you're more likely to use Defense Against the Dark Arts than you are Arithmancy." Fred interjected, clearly under the impression he was helping. "In the current climate, that is."

"You only have an hour scheduled for each class?" Molly asked, her eyebrows knitted together as she read over the parchment in her hand.

"I'll be the only student, it won't take as long to get through lessons." Ginny reasoned.

"And who will be teaching the lessons?"

Ginny bit her lip, she hadn't run this by anyone else yet, and had to hope the others would agree without too much argument.

"I'd have a free hour after breakfast, and can sort orders for Fred and George in exchange for them tutoring me in Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Ginny was going to add 'and a half-wage,' but thought better of it at the last moment.

Fred and George hesitated for a moment, until Fred made a face that seemed to indicate it would be worth it, and they agreed. Ginny had quickly learned that their least liked chore was sorting through the owl post orders in the morning.

"I can do Arithmancy on my own, and I thought you could help me with Charms and Potions?" Ginny asked, looking hopefully up at her mother.

"I did pretty well on my Arithmancy N.E.W.T, I could look over her work once in a while and make sure she's on the right track." Lee offered. "It'll give me something distracting to do on the road, and an excuse to pop in once a week."

Lee's offer to make regular check-ins seemed to soften Molly, for which Ginny was grateful.

"You'll want to use magic?"

Ginny froze momentarily; she hadn't expected her to be so blunt.

"… yes" she replied cautiously. When there was no visible reaction, she chanced continuing. "In fourth year, Umbridge tried teaching us by theory only, nobody outside of the DA passed their exams that year." There was a general sound of agreement from around the table.

"And the fact that it would be illegal for you to do magic outside of Hogwarts?"

"Actually, Molly…" Everyone turned to Arthur as he spoke. "There have been… _exceptions,_ made in the past, under special circumstances."

Ginny held back a tentative smile.

"Wizarding families who choose to teach their children at home, for medical reasons or what have you, have been given permission to allow their underage students to perform magic under supervision, as they would at Hogwarts. It's not talked about much, because of how the Trace works - the ministry says they need to have permission, but would be none the wiser if they were not asked." Arthur finished. Molly looked at him for a moment, her face unreadable.

"Extend each class by half an hour, and there should be an hour of written homework in one subject each night, including weekends." Molly conceded, returning the timetable to Ginny.

"Next week, it's still Easter Holidays" Ginny countered, daringly.

"Fine. But since it's still the Holidays, you can wait until next week before using magic as well."

Ginny grinned, it was much better than she had anticipated, and Molly had said nothing about using magic only during class times, so she knew better than to push. It would take her a week to rough out a curriculum for each class and finish the homework her Hogwarts professors had assigned anyways.

* * *

Over the next week, the occupants of Muriel's house fell into as much of a routine as they could. Molly kept the family busy, having everyone report on Ginny's classes every evening before dinner, and making sure there were no idle hands during the day. Fred and George worked in their store room, and with the Order whenever they could, and Arthur spent hours at a time pouring over the contents of Ron's trunk in rooms that Ginny was not allowed to enter.

Though the stone house was not the busy hive that Grimmauld Place has once been, members of the Order of the Phoenix did check in with regularity. Ginny had a clear view of the front path from the window at her desk, and so was often able to find herself on the main floor moments before a guest would knock on the front door.

Most of the time, she was shooed back up the stairs by her mother, but she usually managed to hear enough to know whether it would be worth risking using extendable ears.

The evening before she would be due to return to Hogwarts however, she needed no excuse to stay downstairs, as Lee arrived just as Muriel and the Weasleys were sitting down to supper. Despite his new nomadic lifestyle, Lee always seemed to return to Muriel's more often than any of the other wizarding families who offered him room and board. It hadn't taken long before the bedroom next to Fred and George's was referred to as "Lee's room" by the majority of the house.

Migrating through so many wizarding houses, especially some of the ones who were deep in hiding, meant that he always brought a fresh batch of information back when he made his way back to Muriel's, which made him a quick favourite of the aging witch.

Soaking wet from the spring storm, Lee shrugged off his traveling cloak and gratefully accepted a steaming mug from Molly. He managed to avoid Muriel's eye while she was critiquing the stew in front of her, and found a seat between Fred and Arthur.

"And who's bed did you find yourself in last night?" Fred joked with a wink. George chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows. Ginny wasn't fooled though, both her brothers had been paying far more attention to the front pathway since their friend had failed to arrive the evening before.

"Nothing like that. There was some trouble at Hogwarts, I stayed in the Hog's Head." Lee answered with a shrug. He was somber, not much different than he had been when he had delivered the news of Ted Tonks' death.

"What happened?"

"I didn't think any students stayed!"

"Is it one of the teachers? We haven't seen - "

"Quiet down!" Muriel commanded in a voice that Ginny would never have expected from her great aunt. Ginny, Fred and George's questioning stopped immediately.

"Now then, go on, what did those blasted Death Eaters do to Hogwarts now?" Muriel crooned.

"They broke into Professor Dumbledore's tomb."

Lee's voice was quiet, but there was no need for him to repeat himself, as they all sat around him in dumbstruck silence.

"Those heathenous cowards," Molly spat. Ginny could barely draw breath. "And it was Aberforth who found…?"

"Sounds like it, he has no idea when it happened either. He was pretty shaken when I got there. I wasn't planning on staying the night, but didn't fancy leaving him alone after a shock like that." Lee answered, shaking his head.

"Not to worry dear, you come when you can." Molly had shaken off the shock faster than the rest of them, and was now ladling out an overfilled bowl of stew for Lee.

"Does he know who did it? Those Carrows maybe?" Arthur asked from across the table. Ginny huffed and sneered at the thought.

"It was probably Aberforth himself who did it, he was never very stable, that one. I could tell you stories - "

"The Carrows couldn't have known who would find it, especially if it was done what the students were at home." George pointed out, interrupting Muriel forcefully.

"You think they'd be capable of something like this?" Lee asked, looking to Ginny.

At first, talking to Lee at the house was a strange experience for her, being so used to hearing his upbeat, encouraging voice ringing with strength as he announced the news on Potterwatch. She had never stopped to think that Lee was putting on brave face for his listeners, until she became one of the privileged few who heard him speak over dinner instead of a wireless.

"They're violent, but George is right. They get off by watching people get hurt, they wouldn't bother if they didn't have an audience." The kitchen was quiet for a moment as Ginny's words sank in. Knowing there was no longer any chance of her returning to Hogwarts, Ginny had started to share more about the Carrows and their ideas about punishment. More than once her confessions had resulted in quarrels with her mother, although with Fred and George on Ginny's side, Molly rarely won the arguments.

"There's a meeting tomorrow night, we'll discuss it further then." Molly said, knowing this would ensure Lee would spend another night safely under her roof. "How's Tonks doing? You said you were off to Andromeda's when we saw you last."

Lee spent the rest of the evening retelling stories he had collected since he had last been at the house. Many of the names were ones Ginny recognized from school, or their relatives. It seemed that many families had spent their children's Easter Holidays going into hiding, and Lee always tried to make sure they knew they would not be alone, and passed along protection pamphlets that the Order of the Phoenix had published, disguised as Weasley Wizard Wheezes brochures.


	29. Chapter 29 - Children at War

It didn't take long for the occupants of Muriel's house to fall into a routine, and Ginny could feel the days and weeks slipping by much faster than she had expected. By the time April arrived, the only things that seemed to change was the Order Members who stopped in every few days, and that, despite Molly's protests, the twins accompanied Lee whenever they could manage to leave the business to Ginny.

Ginny longed to venture past the wall of hedges that encircled the yard, which she supposed was large enough, but its tidy lawn and landscaped gardens felt uninviting. The news her brothers and brought back to her of her friends and their families who were in hiding, were like sweets to a starving child. She had memorized the list of coded messages hidden in Hermione's copy of "A History of Magic," and added to it every time her DA coin grew hot in her pocket. The most recent messages still made her stomach churn, and and her blood boil when she read them.

2 1st Yrs reporting MIA / search in pairs

M.C. confirmed MIA 24 hours / search in groups of 3+ ONLY

M.C. rescued, injured / suspend all missions indefinitely

Meeting in RoR at 6pm / travel in pairs at all times

When Remus had visited the house the week before, the three Weasley children pressed him for news, but her had nothing to offer on either Michael Corner and Dumbledore's Army, or the inhabitants of Shell Cottage, so they were resigned to anxiously awaiting news from Lee.

It was for all of these reasons that Ginny nearly tripped over her trainers as she bolted down the stairs early one evening, and wrenched the front door open before Bill and Mr. Ollivander had reached the top of the steps.

"Slow down, child!" Muriel scolded, before eyeing their visitors. "Molly! We have two more for supper!"

"Only one I'm afraid, Muriel." Bill corrected her, only a little too quickly.

"Are you sure, dear? Is that wife of yours feeding you well enough?"

"She is, and they're all expecting me home soon,"

"Very well, very well. Ginerva, show Mr. Ollivander to his room, unless he'd rather a drink after his journey?" Muriel purred in a most revolting way. Ginny moved forward to take the frail looking wandmaker's arm, but Bill held up his hand to stop her.

"I'd actually like to borrow Ginny for a moment, if you can spare her? I'm afraid it's rather important." Bill's voice was calm, but Ginny's heart jumped in her chest at his words. "Oh, and speaking of borrowed – " Bill produced a small box from the insides of his robes, and opened it for Muriel to inspect.

"My Tiara!" Muriel exclaimed. "And here I thought you'd run off with it!"

"It's a very beautiful piece, Mrs. Prewitt" Mr. Ollivander offered.

"Of course, of course, only the best. Goblin made, as I'm sure you can tell – " Mercifully, the pair slowly made their way down the hallway and out of earshot.

"Is there somewhere we can talk?" Bill asked, his eye wandering to the kitchen, knowing that Molly would burst out of it at any moment.

"My room's in the attic, Fred and George are in their store room, should I call them out, too?"

"I'll pop in on them after." Bill answered, making Ginny uneasy.

Ginny led the way up the narrow, half hidden stairway at the end of the second story hallway, glancing back at Bill as she turned each corner, but his face betrayed nothing.

"I was going to bring Luna to stay, but she's spending a lot of time with Dean, and we don't want him left with no one to talk to." Bill said as he stepped gingerly through the schoolwork spread across the attic floor, and sat himself on Ginny's bed.

"What if you came and stayed at Shell Cottage for a while? We could bring Dean here, I think helping Fred and George with the joke shop would do him some good. He'd have a real bed instead of a couch in the sitting room with Ron and Harry." Something in Bill's tone didn't sit right with Ginny. She eyed him with suspicion, leaning against her desk with her arms folded across her chest, sizing up her eldest brother.

"You wouldn't be getting any more space in the cottage, just swapping Dean and I," she answered slowly.

"You'd be in Luna and Hermione's room, and you can't possibly eat as much as Dean does," but after another moment of silence, Bill's smile faulted a little.

"No, I think it's best if I stay here." She could barely believe she was hearing the words come out of her mouth.

"You've been nagging about leaving Muriel's since you stepped through the front door, I thought you'd jump at the chance to see everyone,"

"No, I haven't"

"What are you – ?"

"Bill, _stop!_ " Ginny interrupted. "This is exactly why I stopped asking to leave, I'm not stupid. If they haven't come to Muriel's yet, to where the most Order members are, it's because they're not planning on staying at Shell Cottage much longer."

Bill looked slightly taken aback by her reaction, but didn't argue.

The silence grew thick as they stared at each other from across the room.

"Harry won't talk to me or Fleur, or Luna or Dean for that matter – "

"Because he doesn't want you nosing around in his business!"

"He's off on his own all day, Ron won't say anything, Hermione's upset with the pair of them for who-knows-what, and when they are in the house, they're holed up with - "

"And you think that if I can come with you, I'll be able to figure out where they're going, and what they're doing? I'm not going to spy on them for you!" Ginny face felt hot and she took an involuntary step towards her brother.

"I would have expected this political crap from Percy," Ginny spat. "Even if I wanted to, what makes you think they'd tell me anything? You probably didn't notice, but I _hated_ how things were over the summer, always the one shut out of everyone else's plans. At least here I can help, and I can train. "

"Don't be stupid, you've been a step ahead of them since the duel at the ministry two years- " Bill argued, his voice rose slightly as he stood to face her, but Ginny cut him off.

"I said, _no_."

"They're taking _Ron_!" Bill roared, suddenly matching Ginny's anger. "And we don't know where they're going, who they'll be fighting, we can't even – They're taking my _little brother_!"

Ginny was sure that the rest of the Weasleys, two floors below, had stopped what they were doing, and could hear Bill's terrified shouting ringing in their own ears. She counted her breaths slowly as he lowered himself back down onto the bed.

"They're not taking Ron," Ginny said softly. If anything, Bill's outburst had calmed her. " _Luna_ was taken, Ruth, and Kevin and Brendon, and all those other kids were taken. So was Mr. Ollivander, and Professor Burbage." She let herself sink into her desk chair.

"But Ron's not being _taken_ , he's going to fight, with two people who would do anything to bring him home safe, and they're all more than capable."

Bill sat in silence, massaging his temple, until Ginny felt like she was intruding just watching him.

"Think of the most reckless, impossible course of action. That'll be their goal. Hope Hermione has found a smart way to get to it." Ginny sighed in defeat. When Bill cocked an eyebrow, she elaborated.

"If Harry's avoiding people, it's because they're planning something dangerous, and he doesn't want anyone else involved. But when they spent time on a plan, they tend to work out, one way or another. Hermione's usually on board with breaking the rules as long as nobody's getting hurt, so if she's pissed, chances are they're doing something that's a little off of her moral compass."

Bill glanced up, his mouth slightly open, as if he was about to speak.

"Don't!" She warned, holding up her index finger. "You'll have to sort the rest out on your own, I feel crappy enough already."

Bill looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded.

Their silence was broken by thundering footsteps that could only have belonged to Fred and George, who, sure enough, busted through the door seconds later.

"Thought we heard you two having a row," Fred explained as he sauntered into the room first.

"Figured it would be best if you heard us coming, being the considerate brothers that we are." George added as he followed his brother in.

Ginny rolled her eyes, but she was glad for their interruption.

"Ginny tells me you're selling your wares out of a closet now?" Bill asked, his eyebrow arched.

"We're more sophisticated than that, my dear brother!" Fred scoffed, tugging at the front of his robes pompously. Ginny snorted.

"Watch it, you," George warned. "Or we'll cut your wages!"

"You don't _give_ me any wages to start with," Ginny answered. Still bickering, the four siblings made their way back down to the kitchen, where Fred and George showed off their store room with pride, and reminded Ginny of the pile of orders ready for her to sort the next morning.

Somehow Bill escaped his mother's persistent questioning long enough to refocus her fussing onto Mr. Ollivander, and he made for the door, calling his good-byes over his shoulder as he went.

"You'll give them all my love, won't you?" Ginny asked as she pulled his still damp traveling cloak out of the closet.

"Of course, and if you change your mind – "

"I won't,"

Bill shrugged his cloak on, and disappeared back into the night.

Having Mr. Ollivander turned out to be quite entertaining for the rest of the household. None of the Weasley's could remember Muriel ever being to gracious and welcoming a hostess as she was when her newest house guest was around, and he provided a whole the store of information for them all.

No one asked about his time at Malfoy Manor, though Ginny suspected Arthur had questioned him on the subject in private. He was disheartened when Lee described the state of Diagon Alley the last time he'd ventured through its streets, and lamented at the thought of his shop being ransacked by Death Eaters and looters.

The times he did speak of his time in the Cellar, they were always fond memories of Luna. He would recount how she would tell him stories of the adventures she had had at Hogwarts, and ask him about his work and wandlore to pass the time.

A week after he arrived, Mr. Ollivander began to arrange for the delivery of materials to fashion Luna a wand to replace the one that had been stolen from her months before. Using Fred and George's supply contacts, and Lee's connections with nearly everyone in hiding, it wasn't long before the wandmaker was setting up shop in his room.

* * *

"Come on then, you can do better than that!" George teased as he flicked his wand back and forth from his seat on Muriel's patio one bright afternoon.

"I doubt you can move as quick as that cushion, so if you want to see me hit something… " Ginny's threat must not have gone unnoticed, as her target slowed to a much more reasonable pace.

George and Lee were lounging comfortably in deck chairs, their wands lazily directing a pair of Muriel's second-best couch pillows to jet back and forth at the opposite end of the yard, while Fred and Ginny aimed various curses at the make-shift targets.

Tonks and Remus had called on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley just after breakfast that morning, as little Teddy hadn't stopped crying in three days, and he had worn out both his parents and his grandmother. Arthur went along to investigate some suspicious Muggle Deaths in the area, promising Lee an interview for Potterwatch upon his return.

"Try that one Mrs. Longbottom showed Lee," George instructed.

Ginny attempted the wand movement Lee had demonstrated earlier in the day, but all it managed to do was knock her target into Fred's.

"There was more of a jab, then a sweeping motion." Lee offered, taking a lazy sip of his Butterbeer,

"And it worked against how many Death Eaters?" Fred asked, trying the same spell as his sister now.

"She said three, and I'm inclined to believe her, she's a tough old broad." When news had gotten out that Neville's grandmother had been attacked two weeks before, Lee tracked her down through his network of refugees, only to find she was quite comfortably and in no need of a young wizard's help.

Fred's spell shot his target straight back twenty feet, burying itself in the hedging, and swept Ginny's back as well, though it fell to the ground just short of the hedges.

"That's more like it!" Lee cheered, summoning the pillows back into formation for Ginny to have another go.

As dusk fell, they grew more confident in casting the new spells, and moved on to testing their dueling reflexes. The four targets were charmed to hover in front of each of them, and they would take turns randomly calling on each other to cast a specific curse or jinx.

"Fred, Multi-shot Jinx!" Ginny called over her shoulder as she rummaged through the pile of cloaks they had shed earlier in the day, before the evening chill had set in. She watched as all four targets blew back one after the other.

"Expulso Curse for Lee, then!" Fred challenged as the targets bounced back into formation, only to be blown back violently by an explosion of blue light.

"Ginny, er… Wind Jinx!" They had only started covering elemental curses and jinxes in the last two weeks, so Ginny was more than pleased when she managed to knock three of the targets down, although one of them may have been pushed aside by the two she hit with the full force of the jinx.

"Lee, um, the Orbis Curse!" Ginny answered back. This time, it was as though the pillow in front of Lee had been sucked down to the ground at an alarming speed.

"George, Knee Reversa-ARG!"

"Well, you can't expect me to use that on a pillow, it hasn't got any knees!" George laughed, as Lee, now looking quite ridiculous with his knees turned the wrong way around, tried to make his way to one of the patio chairs, only to fall hard on the cement halfway there.

"Are we going to keep at it, then?" Fred asked, interrupting Lee's steady stream of curse words as he charmed his knees back to normal on the ground. Ginny tried to bite back her laughter, and turned back to face the targets in preparation.

"Ginny, what's… Lightning?" Lee called out next. Ginny pointed her wand out straight, concentrating on casting the Tempest Jinx. Bolts of white-hot energy shot out of her wand, missing the targets completely and setting the hedge alight.

"Damn!" She groaned. "It's so unpredictable... maybe if I casted it over a wider area…?"

"No, Ginny, what's it mean?" Lee pressed, sounding odd. Ginny turned around to see that Fred and George were glancing at each other sideways behind Lee, who was holding up the DA coin that had fallen from the pocket of her robes.

"I just picked it up, it says 'Lightning has stuck.' The second half…" Lee squinted in the half-light. "… There's a storm brewing, and enter through the in."

The three boys seemed to have understood as Lee spoke the words aloud, and were staring agape at Ginny for confirmation.

"It's Harry," she grabbed the coin from Lee. "There's a battle coming to Hogwarts… Enter through the in… We didn't have a code for 'enter through the in'…"

"That'll be the Hog's Head, Aberforth's been smuggling food into the school from the Inn for weeks now." Lee offered, grabbing his own cloak from the heap next to him.

"You never said!" Ginny led the others in a sprint towards the back door of the house, leaving the hedge smoldering behind them. Muriel was found quickly, and instructed to send a message to their parents and the rest of the Order. Before the elderly witch could object, the foursome were running out the front door and down the drive, their eyes on spot where they would be outside of the Fidelius Charm's protection.

Gripping tightly to Fred's hand, Ginny concentrated on the image of the pub where the DA had held their first meeting, 2 unbelievably long years before.


	30. Chapter 30 - The Lost Diadem

**A/N** : To keep continuity with the books, I am using parts of JKR's original dialog throughout parts of the rest of the story, but the rest, including added dialog, is written in my own words. As Harry is almost comically un-observant, and is not with Ginny for most of the battle, I've taken some artistic liberties with things you'll see from Ginny's POV, that may not have been directly mentioned in the books. Also sorry, but Book Canon trumps Movie Canon.

* * *

For a moment, Ginny felt as though she couldn't open her eyes after apparating, but soon shadows and shapes began to form in the blackness of the Hog's Head.

"Get out!" A gruff voice called out from their left. "Go back to your families, I'll not have more dead kids on my conscience."

"It's us Ab," Lee answered, moving towards the voice. "I've got Fred and George with me, and - "

"What'd you mean, more dead kids?" Ginny asked, banging her hip on what she suspected was a table.

"He'd being dramatic, Ginny." Fred chortled. "Can we turn on a damned light in here?"

"You do have a death wish, don't cha?" Aberforth grumbled back. "The street's lined with Death Eaters, get upstairs then, if yer not going to leave me in peace."

Their eyes only just beginning to adjust, Ginny and the others began stumbling through the pub to a set of stairs behind the bar. Aside from the occasional curse when one of them tripped over a chair or stray flagon littering the floor, nobody spoke until they reached the sitting room, lit only by the glowing embers of a fire in the hearth.

"How many have come through so far?" Lee asked once the old barman reached the top of the steps. Ginny had to shake herself a little, when she realized that in the dim light, she could almost have fooled herself into thinking that it was Albus Dumbledore who stood before them.

"Potter, the younger Weasley boy, and their bright witch friend came through first, damn near got themselves killed, too. I sent them along with Neville about twenty minutes ago. Had a blond little girl and her friend come through since then, and, for a change in pace, a witch about your age, not five minutes ago." Aberforth listed, shaking his head.

Ginny's eyes fixed on the old man's, silently cursing him for not at least taking down names as people came through. She was getting anxious now, and standing around talking when they were so close to a secret passage into the castle made her want to do anything but chit chat.

"Well I don't expect we'll be the last." George said, turning towards a large oil painting above the fireplace, which Ginny hasn't noticed as they came in.

"Oh joy, and here I was, thinking I might have a quiet evening by the fire." Aberforth grumbled.

"Ariana dear, if you wouldn't mind?" Lee was speaking to the portrait of a sweet faced girl blond girl above the mantle. Ginny realized suddenly that the girl in the painting must be the youngest of the Dumbledore children, of whom Muriel had spouted hateful gossip about at every opportunity. The girl called Ariana smiled, and the frame swung forward, revealing a dark passageway.

Lee pulled himself up over the mantle, and barely made it out of the way before Ginny scrambled up behind him. Her entire body seemed to be vibrating now, as though every cell was preparing itself for what they would find at the end of the tunnel. Had the fighting started already? Why had Harry come to Hogwarts, finally? Could the stories he heard from Luna, or from Ginny through Bill, have pushed him to come? Or had things gotten worse, forcing Neville and Colin and the others to send out a plea for aid? Was this what he'd been planning all those months at Shell Cottage?

Four lit wands illuminated the rough floor of the tunnel as the group walked in silence, the same questions running through their heads over and over again. Ginny was trying to distract and prepare herself by concentrate on remembering the curses they'd been practicing all day, as the pace slowly quickened.

Each time one of them hastened their pace, another would do the same, and before they were fifty feet in, all four of them were jogging, each over taking the other, until Ginny couldn't take it anymore and broke out into a run. The footsteps behind her let her know that the three boys were racing at her heels.

Wand light bounced off the walls randomly, barely providing enough light to stop them from tripping over one another. She was faintly aware that either Fred or George had come level with her, and the other two were only a few steps behind.

"Hey, watch-!"

But the warning came too late, and Ginny plowed straight into a dark figure who she'd failed to see walking ahead of them. The two girls landed hard on the ground, knocking Ginny's wand out of her hand.

"Sorry! I didn't see your light!" Ginny apologized, pushing herself awkwardly off of the other girl.

"My eyes were adjusted to the dark, I didn't realize you'd gotten so close." A familiar voice answered.

"You're lucky we're not Death Eaters, you know - " Ginny stopped speaking as the boys' wandlight pooled around them, and Ginny found herself face to face with Cho Chang.

"You're the lucky ones, if I'd thought you were Death Eaters, your lights would have given you away from the start." Cho snapped back.

"Right…" Ginny mumbled, struck dumb by the unexpected altercation. As she watched Lee help Cho to her feet, Ginny couldn't help but notice her sleek, raven black hair streaming down to her waist, where the dim light revealed robes that clung to the older girl's hips, and gathered attractively at her middle.

If only for a moment, Ginny became acutely aware that her own tangled braid was coming undone from a day of hard training, and that the robes she had grabbed hastily from the mending pile that morning, had since been covered in dirt and grass stains.

Ignoring the hand Lee offered her, Ginny pushed herself back onto her feet, and picked her wand off the ground.

"Well, come on then." Ginny said, a little more harshly than she had intended. Shaking herself off, Ginny took her place at the front of the group once more, though this time decided a light jog would be a safer speed, least she run into and more of Harry's ex-girlfriends.

When they finally turned a corner and found themselves at the base of a set of steps, Ginny stopped for a moment, letting Fred, George and the others close the gap between the group. As they approached her, Ginny took a steading breath, and climbed the steps. By the time she'd reached the door at the top, and could hear the raised voiced that usually accompanied strategizing sessions, and she became completely calm.

The room of requirement was so full of people, Ginny didn't even notice what form it had taken. Her eyes fixated on the man in the center of the room, and though his hair had grown longer and his face was covered in dirt and what looked to be burned flesh, Ginny could not help but smile when she saw Harry.

"Well he looks ecstatic to see us," George muttered in Ginny's ear. She was pleased to hear a muffled "oof" as she elbowed him in the ribs. He was right though, as Harry had never looked so displeased.

"Aberforth's getting a bit ratty," Fred called out over the cries of greeting from around the room. "He wants a kip, and his bar's turned into a railway station."

Ginny scanned the room, and to her delight, found Luna, Colin and Sean smiling at her nearby, and Dean was not far off, standing with his chin rested on the top Seamus' head, and his arms wrapped protectively around the chest of the bruised and bleeding boy.

"I got the message" Cho's voice said shyly from behind Ginny, as Lee helped her through the portrait hole. Ginny bit back a sarcastic retort and watched as she made her way over to Michael Corner and his gang of Ravenclaws. Her stomach twisted though, when she saw that the marks from whatever the Carrows had done to Michael in those 48 hours he was missing, had not yet faded.

Ginny made her way through the crowd to where Luna stood, whose unblemished face stood out in stark contrast to the rest of her classmates.

"I'm so glad you're safe," Ginny whispered into Luna's hair as she was pulled into her warm embrace. They pulled apart, and Luna perched herself on the arm of the chair she'd been sitting in, offering the seat to Ginny. "I wanted to come see you - "

"So what's the plan, Harry?" George asked, and Ginny brought herself back to the present.

"There isn't one," Harry answered, looking a little bewildered at the scene in front of him. Ginny would have laughed, if he hadn't looked like he was in physical pain.

"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite kind." Fred replied with a grin. This time, Ginny let out a silent chuckle.

"You've got to stop this!" Harry told Neville, who's hair was perhaps as long as Harry's, and his face in nearly as bad a state as Seamus'. "What did you call them back for, that's insane - "

"We're fighting, aren't we?" Dean asked, pulling out his DA coin with one hand, as his other arm remained around Seamus's shoulders. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I don't have a wand though - "

"You haven't got a _wand_ \- ?" Seamus asked, whipping around as if to scold him. Ginny had not seen Harry so frustrated since she, Neville, and Luna had hijacked his plan to rescue Sirius from the ministry.

"Why can't they help?" Ron asked suddenly, much to Harry's apparent annoyance.

"What?"

Ron leaned over Hermione, and whispered in low tones as the DA struggled to head what they were saying.

"He'd not in a great mood, Harry," Colin informed Ginny, grinning with excitement from the chair he was sharing with Sean next to her. "He'd been rowing with Neville and the rest of us since he got here. Bit annoying really."

Ginny was just about to step forward and budge in on the trio's conversation, when they broke apart.

"OK," Harry called out, as an excited hush fell over the room. "There's something we need to find, Something – something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?"

Luna sat up straight, and out of reflex, Ginny's eyes swept the room as she prepared to put anyone who made fun of her back in their place.

"Well, there's her lost diedem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diedem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it."

"Yes, but the lost diadem is _lost,_ Luna. That's sort of the point." Michael Said, rolling his eyes. Ginny opened her mouth, but was cut off by Harry.

"When was is lost?"

"Centuries ago, they say." Cho answered. "Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself, People have looked, but nobody's ever found a trace of it, have they?" The Ravenclaws all shook their heads.

"Sorry, but what _is_ a diadem?" Ron asked.

"It's a kind of crown," offered Terry Boot. "Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer."

"Yes, Daddy's Wrackspurt siphons – " Luna began, but Ginny nudged her gently. She loved Luna dearly, but now was not the time to talk about her father's inventions.

"And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?" Harry asked, almost pleading. Ginny couldn't fathom why Harry, Ron and Hermione looked so disappointed at not being able to locate an old tiara, but chalked it up to another question she probably wouldn't get an answer to.

"If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry? Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue." Cho offered, a little too innocently for Ginny liking. This time, both she and Colin nudged Luna, hoping she would speak up again.

Harry closed his eyes for a moment, wincing, and muttered something to Ron and Hermione, as Cho got to her feet. Ginny gave up on sending Luna a subtle hint.

"No," She said, a little more fiercely than she intended. "Luna will take Harry, won't you, Luna?"

"Oooh, yes, I'd like to," Luna answered, catching on finally as she winked down at Ginny. Colin and Sean were stifling their laughter, making Ginny momentarily forget how much she'd missed them, as she was overcome with the sudden urge to kick them both, but they just grinned back at her.

As soon as Luna and Harry were led out into the main castle, the Room of Requirement exploded into a chorus of excited chatter.

"What happened since Easter?" Ginny demanded, turning sideways in her chair to face Colin and Sean. "What was the message about Michael about? And why are there – _beds_ everywhere?" She gestured to the hammocks that were hanging around the room.

"Well you heard about Neville's Gran, right?" Colin asked, and Ginny nodded with encouragement. "Neville managed to make it in here before the Carrows caught up to him. When he didn't show up for classes the next day, Seamus, Sean, and I came looking for him here. He'd turned the place into a sort of flat, with a passageway into the Pub and everything."

"Word got around, and we figured it was only a matter of time before Colin and Dennis were found out, so the four of us and Seamus moved in next." Sean continued, gesturing over to where their younger brothers were sitting with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"At that point, we just decided to say 'sod it' and stopped pretending we were cousins." Colin explained. "And don't tell me it's dangerous, everyone in here's hiding from the Death Eaters for one life threatening reason or another, and it's been… good. Getting to be ourselves. Everyone's been great about it."

Ginny couldn't help but smile at the pair of them. Despite the danger of an impending battle, Sean looked more like his old self than she could remember. He was lounging casually, completely comfortable with those around him. Now that she thought about it, Sean's quick witt and sarcasm that she remembered seeing in classes as they grew up had all but disappeared over the past year.

"If you've been in here though, why's everyone look like they've been wrestling trolls every night?" Ginny asked, resisting to urge to fuss over their many cuts and bruises.

"A lot of students are still going to classes, and we sneak out at night and when the great hall is busy. That gets us into enough trouble to keep things interesting." Sean said. "Michael's got a personal vendetta now, he sneaks out more often than most, usually he gets a good smack upside the head from Neville when he crawls back home with Death Eaters on his arse."

"'Course he does." Ginny chuckled, feeling slightly better. Needing to do something with her hands, she pulled the elastic from the tail of her braid, and began working out the tangles.

Ginny glanced over at Ron and Hermione, who had suddenly started whispering excitedly nearby.

"Where are you two off to?" She asked as they tried to sneak past her to the doors. Ron looked around at the crowd of students surrounding them.

"Er – Bathroom." Ron answered in a failed whisper and a wink.

"Bath – what?" Ginny made to grab his arm, but Hermione had already pulled him towards the exit.

"Tell Harry if he gets back before us, won't you?" Hermione shouted over her shoulder. Ginny looked to Colin and Sean, both of whom looked just as confused as she was.


	31. Chapter 31 - Sacking of Severus Snape

Lee Jordan quickly became the most popular person in the Room of Requirement, though Fred and George were crowd favourites as well, as one would expect. Students who had received little more than a few cryptic messages from their friends who had gone into hiding – some since before term started – were hungry for any scraps of information Lee could provide them with.

Ginny, Colin and Sean took advantage of Lee's ability to literally draw people closer to him, and pilled unceremoniously onto the couch a group of third years had vacated. It was such a thing of habit, taking Colin's hand, that it took Ginny a moment to remember that they didn't need to pretend they were together anymore. But Colin squeezed her hand, and Ginny didn't let go.

The boys filled her in with more details of what life at Hogwarts had been like since she'd left, about Neville's lessons and the little victories they'd managed to win, even after Michael's incident reeled in their antics. In return, Ginny told them about Muriel's house and the joke shop in the back room, and repeated the stories Mr. Ollivander had told the Weasleys about Luna and the others at Shell Cottage.

Nobody really knew what was going to happen next, or what Harry, Luna, Ron and Hermione would tell them when they came back to the Room of Requirement. Everyone seemed to be hiding their frayed nerves under a thin layer of excitement, which seemed to be slowly wearing off as time went on, until Lee was the only one left speaking.

Listening to Lee tell students about their missing friends and family members was heartwarming and heart breaking at the same time, and it was a little surprising when Ginny noticed that he had complete control over the room. When someone asked about a family he had visited, even if it was only once, he would regale them with a Quidditch match styled play-by-play of some small moment of happiness, or their triumph over a group of Snatchers or valiant escape from Death Eaters. Occasionally, Dean would chime in with tales of his own, when he'd come across other refugees while on the run.

When a student would choke out a name of a witch or wizard that Lee himself had confirmed as dead on Potterwatch, the room would take on a deep, heavy silence. Lee's tone would change, as he comforted the student with any story he could – that their uncle had died protecting a family of Muggles with two small children, or that Lee had met their friend only once, and all she could talk about was her happy memories with her classmates over the last Easter break - when she'd tried to push her best friend off her broom, and fallen off herself in the process.

Eventually, Harry's name was being muttered by students here and there, often accompanied by hopeful glances at Ginny, Fred and George.

"Dean will know more than us, he and Luna spent the last two months with Harry, Ron and Hermione." Ginny offered, looking to Dean herself, who shrugged.

"They were about the same as you saw today, keeping to themselves, planning their next move." Dean offered. "I gave up two weeks in, but I had Luna for company."

"But didn't Neville say they'd ridden a _Dragon?"_ Owen Cauldwell asked. "Right through the roof of Gringotts?" He was, as usual, sitting with a few other Hufflepuffs near Sean's side of the couch.

"They _what?"_ Dean and Ginny shouted in unison. Colin, who had been lounging across both Sean and Ginny, clapped his hands over his ears.

"That's what they said," Neville grinned. "I figured you lot would know more when you got here, but it looks like I've scooped Potter Watch."

"Bill didn't say anything?" Ginny asked Dean.

"He left for Diagon Alley in the afternoon, said something about a disturbance at Gringotts, but nothing about a Dragon!" Dean answered. The students began pressing Neville for every detail of what Harry had said to him in the tunnel, but he couldn't offer anything other than Harry's confirmation that it had happened, and something about Hermione trying to keep it as a pet.

It was a happy coincidence then, that Bill and Fleur were among the next people to step through the portrait hole, along with Kingsley Shaklebolt and Remus Lupin.

The explosion of questions, and enthusiastic greetings that erupted around them nearly deafened everyone in the room. Remus raised both his hands for silence, which no other ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher could ever have gotten so quickly. The fifth years and above quickly hushed the younger students around them, who clearly didn't understand they were in the presence of four of the coolest witches and wizards they would ever meet.

Kingsley and Bill were the centers of attention of course, as they quickly confirmed what Neville had reported, and were being hounded for more details. During this upswing in activity, Remus made his way through his old students, and perched on the arm of the couch next to Ginny.

"Your parents went back to your aunt's house to check on you, I can't imagine they'll be very far behind us." He said, his expression unreadable.

"You can't really have expected me to stay behind!" Ginny answered, now catching sight of the disapproval on Bill's face from across the room.

"Of course I didn't, but I thought you might want to – be prepared." Remus replied, with the faintest of winks.

But the next group to climb out of the secret passageway was not her parents, but Gryffindor's Alumni Quidditch team; Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinet, and Oliver Wood. The first to greet them of was course, their own classmates; Fred, George, and Lee.

"I suppose I'm not supposed to ask where Harry, Ron and Hermione have gotten to?" Remus asked.

"Harry went to look for Ravenclaw's diadem with Luna – you've never come across it, have you?" Ginny asked. If there was one person alive who knew the castle better than anyone, it was Remus Lupin.

"The Marauders were usually looking for trouble, not treasure. I doubt we'd have noticed it if we had seen it." Remus answered, looking more confused. He looked more tired than usual, probably due to the lack of sleep fatherhood had brought him.

Ginny realized, as did many others, that the noise level of the now very overcrowded Room of Requirement, was being added to by a ruckus in the corridors. As a nervous hush fell over the members of the DA and Order of the Phoenix, Molly and Arthur made their entrance. Ginny hadn't noticed her parents had arrived until they were standing in front of her, Molly fuming and dragging Fred and George behind her, as Arthur, Bill, and Fleur followed at a safe distance.

Thankfully, before Molly could open her mouth, they were distracted by Harry and Luna falling through the door.

"Harry, what's happening?" Remus asked as he rushed forward to meet him.

"Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school – Snape's run for it –" There was a cheer from some of the students, who were quickly hushed by those around them.

"What are you doing here? How did you know?" Harry asked, clearly stunned by the sheer number of people around him. Ginny saw a flash of annoyance, then relief cross his face as Fred explained about sending the word out to the rest of the DA and the Order.

"What first, Harry? What's going on?" George asked, as many around him repeated his last question.

"They're evacuating the younger kids, and everyone's meeting in the great hall to get organized," Harry said. "We're fighting."

There was a great roar, as students made a break for the door behind Harry. Ginny made to follow when Molly caught her arm in a surprisingly tight grip.

"Not you!" Her mother scolded, as Colin and Sean slipped out of the throng of Weasleys, shrugging back at her helplessly before following Luna, Dean and Seamus into the corridor.

"You can't be serious!" Ginny snapped, trying to tug out of her mother's grasp to no avail. She looked up to her brothers and Remus, all of whom stood around equally useless.

"You're under-age!" Molly shouted. "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"

"I won't!" Ginny yelled as she finally pulled her arm free. "I'm in Dumbledore's Army - "

" – A teenager's gang!" Molly shot back. Ginny felt anger surge up in her chest, but Fred stepped in to defend her.

"A teenager's gang that's about to take him on, which no one else's dared to do!" Molly now turned to Fred.

"She's _sixteen_! She's not old enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her with you - " Ginny balked at her words, angry at the thought that she was seen as a tag-along.

"Mum's right, Ginny" Bill interjected, trying the calm approach no one else in the Weasley family, other than Arthur, had ever mastered. "You can't do this. Everyone under-age will have to leave, it's only right."

"I can't leave!" Ginny shouted, furious with herself that she could feel her eyes welling up. "My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and - "

She stopped as her eyes met Harry's.

He would side with her, he knew what it was like to be separated from everyone he loved, not knowing if they were alive or dead. Did he realize that one word from him could make her mother relent, could make her re-think what she was asking Ginny to do?

She had never felt as much anger towards Harry as she did in the split second it took him to shake his head.

"Fine!" Ginny spat, turning away from him, ready to leave him and the whole sodding lot behind her, until she could sneak back in with Colin and Sean. "I'll say goodbye now, then, and – "

Ginny froze as the one brother she would never have counted on to be able to keep her from leaving fell through the opening of the tunnel, bringing a deafening silence to the Room of Requirement, as the Weasleys stared at Percy in disbelief.

"I was a fool!" Ginny nearly laughed at the dramatic break in tension. "I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a – a – "

"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron." Fred finished for him, before Ginny could put her own colourful vocabulary to use.

"Yes, I was!"

"Well, you can't say fairer than that." Fred agreed, extending his hand out to Percy.

Ginny was nearly bowled over by her mother, and, glancing around, realized that no one was paying her any particular attention. She was glad Percy had come to his senses, but not nearly glad enough to pass up her chance at escaping.

Slowly and gently, she allowed herself to be shuffled to the back of the group, until she was at the base of the stairs, where Remus was showing Fleur and Harry a picture of Teddy.

As she climbed the first few steps, she saw Remus' eyes flick in her direction for a moment, but he cooly turned away, pretending to be admiring the Hufflepuff banner in the opposite direction.

"Ginny!" Molly barked. She had not been quick enough to make it into the corridors before the family dramatics had petered off. She looked automatically to Remus, biting her lip hopefully as she recognized her only ally in the room.

"Molly, how about this," Lupin offered, "Why doesn't Ginny stay here? Then at least she'll be on the scene and know what's going on, but she won't be in the middle of the fighting?"

Molly began to protest the idea, when Arthur stepped in.

"That's a good idea." Arthur agreed. "Ginny, you stay in this room, you hear me?"

Ginny glared for a moment, but between her father's unusually firm tone and a lack of alternatives, she nodded begrudgingly.

"Where's Ron? Where's Hermione?" Harry asked suddenly, now that it didn't look like the first battle of the evening would be fought before the Death Eaters even arrived.

"They must have gone up to the great hall already," Mr. Weasley offered as he ushed the rest of his family up the steps.

"I didn't see them pass me," Harry said, confused.

"They said something about a bathroom, not long after you left." Ginny remembered, making her way back down the stairs slowly. She and Harry were alone now, and the anger she'd felt towards him earlier was still simmering in her chest. She crossed her arms and leaned against a pillar, as Harry made his way to what she assumed to be the bathrooms at the other end of the room.

"Are you sure they said bath – ?"

Without warning, Harry fell to the ground with a great gasp of pain.

"HARRY!" Ginny screamed, rushing towards him.

She tried to roll him onto his back, but every muscle in his body had seized. Ginny ran her hands helplessly over his face, feeling his jaw clench painfully. She had seen him wincing in pain, or hurrying out of the room before when his scar hurt in the past, but nothing as scary as this.

As quickly as it had started, it stopped. His body went limp, and his eyes flashed open in a wild panic, and he began gasping for air.

"Breathe, Harry, breathe." She said, still in a mild panic. "You're here, you're at Hogwarts."

Shaking his head, Harry sat up, and pressed the heels of his hands into his forehead.

"He's here too, Gin," He said through gritted teeth, and Ginny felt her blood run cold.

"H-Here?" She stammered, unable to believe it. Of course Snape would have summoned him, she shouldn't have been so shocked.

"I've got to go – I have to – " He looked hopelessly lost, his eyes darting to the door, then the bathrooms, then Ginny, and back to the door. Finally, his gaze rested on hers.

"I have to find Ron and Hermione." He said, still looking confused, the fingers of one hand massaging his scar. "Please, stay here, Ginny – I can't – I need to know you're safe."

Ginny leaned forward, and pressed her lips against his.

It wasn't the flirtatious, teasing kiss like the ones they would sneak beside the lake on Saturday afternoons, or the firewhiskey kiss they shared in her bedroom in June. She wasn't even surprised that when she pulled away, her cheeks was damp.

Ginny pressed her forehead against Harry's, and drew a steadying breath, her gaze fixed onto his face.

"I know – you have to go and be the hero now," she said, choking out a kind of half-laugh.

Harry nodded silently, and scrambling to his feet, moving quickly towards the steps, stopping for just a moment when he reached the top.

"Just – Ginny, please – just _stay here,_ " he begged, before rushing out the door.

For a moment, the noise of the busy castle flooded into the Room of Requirement. Ginny closed her eyes as heavy door thudded closed, echoing off the walls. Ginny was, suddenly, completely alone.


	32. Chapter 32 - The Battle of Hogwarts

Ginny wandered through the Room of Requirement, aimlessly waiting for students to start flowing in, or for more Order members to emerge from the Hog's Head. Nervous, she pulled the long chain holding the key to Sirius' motorcycle from the neck of her robes, and ran her fingers over its teeth as she paced the room.

"I know you are preparing to fight." a chilling voice reverberating around her, making her blood turn to ice in her veins, her eyes wide with recognition.

"Your efforts are futile." Ginny's eye darted around the room, but Tom Riddle's voice was coming from everywhere, all at once. It was another nightmare, she must have fallen asleep… it had to be a nightmare.

"You cannot fight me." Instinctively, Ginny backed away from where she stood, tripping over a stray ottoman, and scrambled back on her hands and backside.

"I do not want to kill you."

"Get out! GET OUT!" She screamed in wild desperation, throwing a heavy textbook at random, but the clatter it made knocking the fire pokers onto the stone hearth did nothing to drown him out.

"I have a great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts." Ginny froze, panting now. It wasn't a nightmare – he was here, just like Harry had said. He was not speaking only to her this time, but to every student and teacher in the castle.

"I do not want to spill magical blood"

"FUCK YOU!" She screamed at the voice, feeling oddly braver knowing that she was awake, that he had no control over her today.

"Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed."

"Come and get him, you fucking coward!" She bellowed back, her entire body now buzzing with adrenalin. "I fucking dare you!"

She was standing again, but couldn't remember getting to her feet.

"Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched."

Ginny actually laughed aloud at this, until she stopped short, suddenly remembering.

"Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded."

Harry had gone to the Great Hall, he was surrounded by frightened students, by the Carrows, and their gang of loyal Slytherin students. An image of Theodore Nott holding a wand to Harry's throat flashed before her eyes.

"You have until midnight."

Ginny checked her watch, it was already half past eleven.

Running her fingers through her hair and wringing her hands, she went back to pacing, although it did little to calm her. She tried to reassure herself that the DA , the Order, and the Professors of Hogwarts wouldn't let Nott or any of the others within twenty feet of Harry, but she still felt like she might be sick.

Filch bumbled into the Room of Requirement just as the silence was beginning to press in on Ginny's ears. Followed by a slew of Slytherins, the caretaker and students alike gaped with open mouths at their surroundings, and for a moment, it looked as though they may have forgotten why they had come.

"What's the plan then?" Ginny demanded.

"We're to evacuate," Filch said, looking around the room in bewilderment. "McGonagall said there's a way out – "

Ginny felt a sense of relief that Filch was so clueless, and immediately took charge, climbing onto a chair to overlook the crowd.

"Right, we won't fit everyone in the Hog's Head, so we'll need to start Apparating out of Hogsmeade nearly as soon as you arrive." Ginny instructed loudly. "Anyone who can apparate, take at least two younger students with you at a time, more if you can manage it."

"Where? You want us spread halfway across the country? What happens when our families are looking for us?" A fourth year in Slytherin robes piped up, to a chorus of agreement. The room was expanding as more and more students pilled in, and most of them were too busy looking for friends and siblings to pay much attention to Ginny.

"I'm not leaving! My sister's staying to fight!" A Hufflepuff girl called out.

"Alright, alright… If you won't leave, get into the shop's cellars, the barman at the Hog's Head will tell to which shopkeepers can be trusted." Ginny's shouting seemed to be getting most student's attention now.

"Everyone else, apparate to…" _Damn_ , Ginny thought, _all the places that would be safe, and large enough, are guarded by the Fidelius Charm._

"My family has a holiday home," Curtis Bradley offered from behind a group of Ravenclaw students. "It's in the middle of nowhere, nobody around for miles."

"Yes, that's fine!" Ginny sighed with relief. "Alright then, the tunnel's over here. Curtis, make sure you tell Aberforth where you're taking everyone."

Curtis inclined his head, bringing two fingers up to his hairline and flicking his wrist in a playful salute.

Slowly, the pack of students began to bottle neck, stepping into the passageway two or three at a time. At first, it was mostly the Slytherins, who'd been the first to arrive, although Zacharias Smith had somehow gotten to the front of the line ahead of the Ravenclaw students.

Ginny finished lifting a particularly small first year into the tunnel, when she turned to see three Slytherin girls hesitating in front of her. Tabitha Bainbridge and her two companions, who Ginny recognised as Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, were looking torn between each other and the entrance to the tunnel.

"No one's making you leave, you can stay and fight." Ginny said, before she could stop herself. Astoria was only a fifth year, but Daphne and Tabitha were both of age, and all three were sporting cuts and bruises that could only have come from the Carrows.

"No, we can't." Daphne said, pushing her sister ahead of her. Ginny opened her mouth to respond, but Tabitha cut across her.

"You don't know how lucky you are, do you?" She asked. Ginny stared at her classmate, stunned. Daphne ushered Astoria into the tunnel and out of sight, as Tabitha dropped her voice.

"Your whole family, all of your friends, they're all on the same side." Tabitha explained angrily. "You don't have to choose, you don't have to walk away from the fight because your _parents_ are on the other side of it. You don't have to worry that you might end up dueling one of _your_ brothers."

Tabitha stared Ginny down, as though she were daring her to respond, and Ginny noticed that Tabitha's eyes were glistening. Their short exchange had create a backlog of students, and before she knew it, Tabitha had disappeared behind her friends in the passage to Hogsmeade.

Ginny shook herself and began wandering through the thinning crowd, searching the faces of the Gryffindors at the back of the room.

"Owen!" He had fallen behind his fellow Hufflepuffs, and was looking faintly panicked.

"Ginny!" Relief flushed over his face as he cut through to her. "What's going on? I couldn't hear anything, and I can't find any Prefects, and there aren't any teachers – "

"We're evacuating you all through the tunnel, have you seen Colin and Sean?" She asked, sure that neither would leave the other, despite Colin being a few weeks short of seventeen. She was right to assume Owen wouldn't miss where Sean had gone.

"I lost sight of them in the Great Hall," Owen answered.

"Alright, let's get you out of here – Dennis! Jimmy!" Ginny had caught sight of the younger Creevey and Peakes duo, being strong armed by a rather large Ravenclaw Prefect.

"McGonagall said I wasn't to let go of the pair of you until we reached Hogsmeade." The Prefect puffed. It was lucky for him that both boys were of small stature, and Jimmy didn't have access to his beater's bat.

"And how well do you think that's going to go for you?" Dennis spat, wrenching his arm as hard as he could, to no avail.

"Oh, let them go already, I've got them from here," Ginny ordered, prompted smirks from both young Gryffindors.

"Colin snuck back in with Sean?" she asked, with no fear of being overheard. Both Dennis and Jimmy nodded, rubbing their arms, which were probably bruising already.

"Alright, I need you two to go with this lot," Ginny instructed. They both made faces at her, and opened their mouths to protest. "Or you can stay _in here_ with me."

After a moment of quiet contemplation and sideways looks at one another, Dennis nodded to Jimmy, who shrugged in acceptance.

"We'll go, but we're staying in the village." Dennis agreed.

"I'll send word when I can. I saw Demelza and Amber go through a minute ago, catch up to them, and keep everyone safe." Ginny hesitated a moment, looking down at Owen, who had not left her side. "Take Owen with you."

The three boys took off at a jog, and Ginny ushered that last few stragglers into the tunnel. Ginny checked her watch again, and felt her stomach drop as she realised it was ten to midnight.

Pacing around the room, she kept imagining she could hear people running in the corridors outside, but as soon as she stood still to listen, she was only answered by silence. When the doorway to the tunnel did open up behind her, Ginny nearly jumped out of her skin.

"I'll probably have more luck getting some peace and quiet in the middle of the bloody castle than my own damned pub." Aberforth grumbled as he stepped out into the Room of Requirement. "A bit of notice would've been nice too, before you sent a few hundred teenagers trampling into my sitting room."

"We thought Voldemort blasting threats against students' lives would give you enough for a heads up, but next time, I'll send a candy gram ahead." Ginny said, equally sourly. Aberforth grunted, which Ginny thought for a moment could have been a strangled laugh.

"Well, where's all the action at then, girl? If I'm spending the night fighting to the death, I'd like to have a good starting position." Aberforth said gruffly, walking past Ginny with surprising speed.

"They were all in the Great Hall, I don't know where they've gone from there!" She called after him, though he was already halfway out the door.

Ginny groaned audibly at being left alone in the deafening silence once more, and flopped back into her chair in exasperation, checking her watch at least three times a minute.

She didn't have long to feel sorry for herself though. As she watched the seconds after midnight tick by, her stomach flipped at the sound of what she could only assume was the fighting starting on the grounds of the castle. Once or twice she heard thundering footsteps running past, or the crash of glass being shattered. The harder she listened, the thinner the walls of the Room became, and the more she heard.

This time, she heard the quick footsteps echoing down the tunnel, and drew her wand as she turned to face the entrance.

"Wotcher, Ginny." Tonks called out as she emerged from the shadows, looking more tired and worried than ever. "Here Agusta, let me help you down,"

Ginny watched as Tonks jumped to the ground, nearly tripping herself up, and turned to offer a hand to Neville's grandmother.

"I'll do much better on my own, thank you Nymphadora." Mrs. Longbottom said smartly, as Tonks cringed. "Now then, what's the plan? We had to wade through a throng of students to get here, though none of them were much help."

The walls of the Room of Requirements trembled slightly, and an explosion could be heard in the distance.

"A bunch of the sixth and seventh years stayed behind to help fight, but I've been stuck – " Ginny was cut off when the main door slammed open, and three sets of footsteps raced down the steps towards them.

"Ah, Potter, you can tell us what's going on." Mrs. Longbottom said, swiftly dismissing her. Ginny swung around, not at all surprised to see both Ron and Hermione carrying armloads of what appeared to be basilisk fangs. That would explain their comment about the bathroom.

"Is everyone OK?" Ginny demanded, echoing Tonks.

"'S far as we know," Harry answered in a rush. "Are there still people in the passage to the Hog's Head?"

"I was the last to come through. I sealed it, I think it unwise to leave it open now Aberforth has left the pub." Mrs. Longbottom reported. "Have you seen my grandson?"

"He's fighting." Harry answered.

"Naturally. Excuse me, I must go and assist him." Mrs. Longbottom hurried off, and Harry turned to Tonks.

"I thought you were supposed to be with Teddy at your mothers?" Harry asked, with genuinely concern.

"I couldn't stand not knowing – she'll look after him – Have you seen Remus?" Tonks asked desperately.

"He was planning to lead a group of fighters into the grounds – " Harry said, as fear splashed over Tonks' face, and she ran out of the room. Now, Harry turned to Ginny, and she could tell he was torn.

"Ginny, I'm sorry, but you need to leave too. Just for a bit. Then you can come back in." He said, in the authoritative tone he had adopted during DA meetings. Ginny didn't have to be told twice, and flew up the steps as quickly as she could.

"And then you can come back in!" He shouted after her. " _You've got to come back in!"_

As she emerged into the main castle for the first time, Ginny choked on the dust that filled the air, and shielded her eyes as glass blew in from a nearby window.

"Here, there's a view with some cover!" Tonks called to her, and Ginny joined her at one of the still intact stained glass windows. With a flick of her wand, each witch shattered a few pains through which they could see the battle raging below.

"Let's hope he steps on a few of them!" Ron's voice shouted as Grawp lumbered past them.

"As long as it's not one of our lot!" Tonks replied.

Ginny smiled to herself as her Multi-Shot Jinx blasted three Death Eaters away from a group of students below.

"Good girl!" Aberforth roared as he hurried past. "They look like they might be breaching the North Battlements, they've brought giants of their own!"

"Have you seen Remus?" Tonks called after him.

"He was dueling Dolohov, haven't seen him since!" Aberforth called over his shoulder.

"Tonks," Ginny called out, "Tonks, I'm sure he's OK - " but she couldn't blame her for following Aberforth towards the Entranced Hall, and turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"They'll be all right," Harry said, sounding unconvinced himself. "Ginny, we'll be back in a moment, just keep out of the way, keep safe – "

Ginny was ready to shoot back with a smart remark, but Harry had already grabbed Ron and Hermione and run back down the corridor towards the Room of Requirement.

As they vanished from sight, Ginny went to turn back to her perch at the window, when screams at the other end of the corridor made her whip around, and take off towards the sound.

Skidding around a corner, Ginny could make out four figures through the dust and smoke. As she approached, she recognised Fred and Percy with their backs to her, their wands aimed at the sound of approaching Death Eaters. Between Ginny and her brothers, Lee was doubled over, clutching his side, while Hannah Abbott tried to get her arm around his waist.

"He's got to get to Madam Pomfrey!" Hannah yelled as she got a proper look at the gash to Lee's abdomen.

"Take him!" Fred's strangled voice called, as he chanced a look over his shoulder at his best friend. "If we go, they've got a straight shot to Flickwick's group in Ravenclaw tower!"

"I'll cover them," Ginny said, positioning herself behind her two brothers. "Until we can get him somewhere safe." Hannah nodded, and with a switch of her wand, Lee was floating in the air ahead of her.

"Harry, Ron and Hermione are in the Room of Requirement," she told Fred. "The passageway's been sealed, make your way in that direction if you need someone to back you up, I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You'd better get moving!" Percy warned, as he and Fred raised their wands, staring down the corridor as footsteps echoes off the walls. "Oliver said Madam Pomfrey's collecting wounded in the Great Hall."


	33. Chapter 33 - The Elder Wand

The closer they got to the Great Hall, the louder the dueling became, and the closer Ginny and Hannah walked to Lee. His bleeding seemed to have slowed slightly, and he was walking hunched over, between the girls.

"We're almost there," Hannah reassured him, and the top of the Marble Staircase came into view. "Madam Pomfrey will fix you up in no time."

But Ginny was not so confident, and she realized quickly that at least half a dozen duels were taking place between them and the Great Hall.

"Use the Disillusionment Charm," Ginny instructed as they sidled along a wall they gave them a better view of those below. "Wait for my signal, then get into the Great Hall, and seal the main doors behind you."

Hannah did as instructed, and she and Lee all but disappeared before Ginny's eyes. The air was still thick with smoke and dust, which doubled their chances of staying hidden.

"Stay as close to the right hand side of the staircase as you can – " As she spoke, she caught sight of Dean and Dolohov dueling below, having just come in from the grounds. Even from a distance, Ginny could see Dean's face was contorted with rage, and tears streamed down his cheeks. With a sudden, gut wrenching jolt, Ginny remembered that Dolohov had been dueling Remus on the grounds not twenty minutes before.

" _Confringo!_ " She shouted, aiming her wand at the left side of the staircase. The bannister blasted apart, showering the duelers below in rubble, shattering the Slytherin hourglass and spilling emeralds across the stone floor.

There was a moment of chaos, and Ginny watched what she assumed was Hannah and Lee's disillusioned figures make their way through the duelers.

"Up there!" Ginny recognized Yaxley's voice coming from beneath a Death Eater's mask, and ducked back behind the corner as a jet of blue light shot past her, making a crater in the opposite wall. More yelling followed, and Ginny chanced another look below. Flitwick, Kingsley and Parvati Patil had entered the brawl now.

"Oi! Ginny!" a familiar voice called from behind her. She turned to see Seamus, Luna and Ernie McMillan rushing towards her. "You seen Dean?"

"Down there – Have you seen – ?"

"Colin and Sean were heading for the grounds through the West Wing - haven't seen Harry or your brothers!" Seamus yelled over his shoulder before following Ernie and Luna towards the marble staircase.

Ginny turned and ran off in the direction Seamus had pointed, skidding down a set of steps hidden behind a tapestry as Peeves came speeding past her.

The West Wing was eerily empty, and it unnerved Ginny to be able to hear dueling and screaming coming from all around her, and yet still feel the cold stillness in the air. It didn't take long to find the gaping hole in the wall, flashes of couloured light passing across it from a duel being fought just on the other side.

A chilling scream echoed through the corridor, and Ginny raced forward.

" _Protego!"_ she yelled, as a Death Eater's spell bounced off her shield charm, and Ginny ran towards the group of DA members.

Michael Corner was standing defensibly in front of Terry Boot, who looked barely conscious, flanked by Sean and Colin. Opposite them, half a dozen Death Eaters were closing in.

"Multi-shot Jinx on three!" Sean called, just loud enough for Ginny and the others to hear over the curses being fired back and forth between the groups. It was something they had practiced at DA meetings before Easter, but that Ginny hadn't been completely sure would work out in the chaos of a real duel. There was nothing else for it though, four students against six Death Eaters was too much of a chance to take.

Sean let out two quick, high pitched whistles, half a second apart, and where the third whistle would have been, four jinxes shot out as one, blasting the Death Eaters off their feet with their combined force.

"Holy shit, it worked!" Ginny breathed.

"What do you mean, _it worked?"_ Michael balked.

"Shut it, and make sure they stay down," Ginny shot back, moving towards Terry. "Was it a jinx, or - ?"

"Stunning spell, and he knocked his head pretty bad." Colin explained, helping Sean and Michael secure the defeated Death Eaters in Body Bind Curses. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief. Between her brothers and Quidditch matches, head injuries was something she knew how to treat.

"Enervate," Ginny did as she had seen her mother and Madam Hooch do dozens of times, relieved when Terry's eyes fluttered open.

"Can you walk?" She asked, helping him to his feet.

"Point me towards the nearest Death Eater," Terry said, shaking his shoulders out.

"Well, this lot's taken care of - " Sean gave the Death Eater nearest to him a good kick, leading the way out onto the grounds.

"Over there!" Colin shouted, and the group of five made their way across the grounds, trying to stop the next group of hooded figures from breaching the castle walls.

When Ginny would look back on that night, she wouldn't be able to separate one battle from the next, or put a number to how many duels they'd fought, or say for sure which other groups of Hogwartians they had teamed up with along the way. What she would remember, would be the heart-stopping near misses, and the look of savage pleasure on Colin's face when he and Sean sent Theodore Nott and Gregory Goyle flying into the whomping willow.

"Bastards must have snuck back in with the rest of the Death Eaters!" Michael spat as they ran towards another duel.

They had made their way around to where the greenhouses stood, reflecting flashes of red, green, and blue light on every pane. Terry led the sprint to the space between two of the greenhouses, where they could catch their breath.

The battle had been raging for hours now, and exhaustion was starting to take over. The faces of the fallen they had come across, from both sides, kept pushing themselves to the front of Ginny's mind, no matter how hard she tried to shove them back. All she wanted was for it to be over, but she couldn't see a way – even if they made it back into the castle, it was overrun by Death Eaters, would there be anywhere that was safe? She knew better than to think the halls wouldn't be littered with more bodies.

"I don't think we stand a chance of getting in through the Entrance Hall," Sean said.

"If we can make it to the broom shed, we can fly up to Gryffindor Tower?" Ginny suggested, and the others nodded, though Sean paled slightly. They all knew they couldn't keep up the non-stop running and dueling much longer, at least the tower would give them a safer vantage point.

"Okay, we'll run for Greenhouse Three, and go from there." Michael agreed.

Ginny was grateful that the Colin ran first, because she wasn't sure she had the energy left the lead the sprint, and following somehow seemed easier.

"Over there! That's the Weasley girl!" A gruff voice yelled over the sound of the battle.

"Shit!" Ginny swore, slipping in the mud as she scrambled out of sight. "Shit, shit, shit – How many are there?"

Sean, being the tallest, peeked through a broken pane of glass near the roof of the greenhouse.

"Five – maybe six – ? Six!" He confirmed, as a flash of bright light momentarily illuminated the grounds.

"Right, we have the advantage, they're still out in the open." Ginny said, nodding to the boys as she turned back to the direction they had come from. They were lucky, and could use the greenhouses as cover to disguise their numbers.

Summoning every last ounce of nerve left in her body, Ginny bolted out into the open, entering the fray once again. She could hear the four boys sprinting out behind her, and the curses began to fly.

Darting back and forth between the greenhouses, Ginny fired hexes and jinxes at the oncoming Death Eaters. Her legs and chest were burning, and there was pit of dread in her stomach that was becoming impossible to ignore.

" _Reducto_!" She shouted, blasting one of the Death Eaters backwards, his mask falling to the ground. Anger flashed across Selwyn's face, but Ginny was too busy blocking a hex from one of his fellows to care.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Colin blind yet another Death Eater with the Conjunctivitis Curse Ginny had used against Amycus Carrow their first week of term.

" _Expulso!"_ A flash of blue light threw Ginny violently, crashing her into both Micheal and Terry, who'd been hit by the same curse. The three of them scrambled to get back to their feet.

" _Avada - "_

 _"_ _Protego!"_

 _"_ _NO!"_

For a moment, Ginny thought she had cast her shield charm in time, but Sean's strangled scream pierced the air, and time stood still as Colin's body crumpled to the ground.

She was aware that she was screaming, but couldn't hear or understand her own words, nor could she feel her feet hitting the ground as she ran towards Selwyn, her wand already slashing through the air.

Michel and Terry were on her heels, and they ran out of the cover of the green houses, past Sean, past Colin's lifeless form. Adrenalin like Ginny had never felt before pumped through her veins, and her wand grew hot in her hand as she fired curse after curse at the Death Eaters.

She slashed her wand violently, and watched a purple streak of flame cut into the Death Eaters, knocking three of them back, as Michael and Terry blasted back two more. There was a buzzing coursing through her limbs, a storm of anger and grief raging inside of her, which would surely burst through her skin at any moment.

Instinctively, Ginny cast the Tempest Jinx, knowing this time that she would not miss her mark. The screams from the Death Eaters made no impact on her, as she watched the white-hot lighting that shot from her wand strike them all in one fell swoop.

" _Confringo!"_ A new voice came from behind Ginny, but she didn't bother to look behind her. They were aiming at Death Eaters, the Death Eaters that had killed Colin, and that was all that mattered.

"Ginny – _Flipendo!"_ Michael's shouting broke through her deafness as he knocked another Death Eater off his feet and dodging a jet of green light himself. "Ginny, we've got to get him out of here!"

 _Didn't he realize Colin was dead?_ Ginny thought to herself. _That Selwyn had killed him?_

"Ginny!" Angelina Johnson's voice surprised her enough to make her glance sideways. She and Katie Bell had joined the duel without Ginny even realizing it. "We've got this! Take him, and go!"

It wasn't Colin they were talking about, she realized, it was _Sean_.

Sean, who was sobbing over Colin's lifeless form, as Terry stood guard, deflecting curse after curse from the spot where Colin lay, unable to fire back.

The noise of the battle rushed back in, as Ginny returned to the present. With strength she didn't know she had, Ginny grabbed Sean around his chest, and hauled him backwards, behind the cover of the nearest greenhouse.

" _COLIN!_ " Sean screamed, trying to push past Ginny.

"Sean! SEAN!" Ginny body blocked him, her voice cracking. "Sean, _stop!"_

Ginny managed to shove him back, and when he lost his footing and fell to the ground, she pinned him against the side of the greenhouse. Angelina and Michael were right, Sean couldn't fight anymore. If he stayed, if he dueled another Death Eater, he would die too.

"We need to go," Ginny said, struggling to keep Sean from running. "Sean, we need to – "

"I c-can't!" Sean sputtered. "I can't – "

"You have to – Sean – _stop it!"_ Ginny cried out. They were wrestling again, and Ginny nearly lost him.

" _Jimmy!_ " Ginny said out of desperation. Sean's eyes went wide at the sound of his brother's name, and he froze for a moment. Ginny took a breath, and stared into Sean's distraught face.

"D – Dennis lost Colin – I'm _not_ letting Jimmy lose you, too!" Her voice sounded thick through her tears. Sean remained frozen, but he didn't acknowledge what she had said, either.

"We're going to make a break for it, okay?" Ginny choked. "Michael and Terry know - they'll cover us – You see the broom shed?"

Sean's breath was coming out in great, gulping gasps, his hands knotted into his hair.

" _Sean_ – Sean, look – look at the shed,"

Sean's eyes went sideways, and fixed on the little shack in the distance.

"Okay – " One of the panes of glass above them exploded, and Ginny shielded their heads from the debris. Not wanting to wait for him to change his mind, Ginny grabbed Sean's hand, and took off running.

Ginny dragged Sean behind her, despite the fact he could have easily outpaced her, and didn't stop until they reached the shed. They were both gasping for air, struggling to hold together. When they stopped, Ginny wanted to collapse, wanted to let her grief wash over her, to weep and scream and sob until her voice was hoarse and her eyes couldn't squeeze out another tear.

Ginny allowed herself three deep breaths, before she skirted around to the door of the shed, and let herself in. She didn't have time to be picky, but knew she needed a fast broom, if they were going to make it up to Gryffindor tower without being shot down.

She grabbed a Comet 290, remembering that it had always pulled to the left, but hadn't lost much of its speed, and went back out to find Sean.

As they rose into the sky, Sean clung desperately to Ginny, his arms around her chest. Ginny looked up, and gasped aloud. Winged, jet-black, skeletal horses filled the air around the castle.

"What - ?" But Ginny realised what they must be as soon as she spoke, and sped forward knowing it would be safe to pass through the swarm.

Were it not for his strangling grip, Ginny would have worried that Sean had fallen off the back of the broom. Glancing over her shoulder as she fired a jinx down at a group of Death Eaters below, she saw that Sean had his head buried into her hair, and remembered his paralyzing fear of heights.

" _Defindo!"_ Her spell narrowly missing a Thestral, Ginny blasted through one of the common-room windows, sending her and Sean tumbling across the floor. She gasped in pain, as a shard of glass imbedded itself into her forearm.

Gritting her teeth, she pulled it out with a screech of pain, and tried to staunch the blood with a handful of her robes.

"Essence of Dittany!" She said through gritted teeth, as Sean got to his feet across the room. "There should be some behind the bookshelf – we kept it there for detentions!"

Sean hurried to where she had pointed, and began throwing things out of the way, until he came across the small, empty vial with a peeling label, and threw it angrily across the room.

"It's fine – it's fine – There will be more in the Hospital wing," Ginny said, trying to tear off strips of her robes. Sean kneeled down to help, and bound her arm with shaking hands.

"Hospital w-wing." Sean repeated, helping Ginny to her feet. The battle raged on outside, and for a moment, Ginny almost gave into the pain. But they were not safe here. Once Sean was safe, she could give in. Colin would never forgive her if she didn't keep Sean safe.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm sorry…


	34. Chapter 34 - The Prince's Tale

"Hi," the familiar voice made Ginny jump. It was late, and she had snuck back down to the Gryffindor common room, not wanting to let herself doze off in her warm, inviting bed. Ginny had been watching her feet in the dim light, trying to make sure she didn't make a sound as she crept down the staircase. When she looked up, her heart sank as she recognized one of the very last people she had ever wanted to find herself alone with.

"I just – " Ginny looked around wildly. "I forgot my text book," She stammered, picking _Standard Book of Spell, Grade 2_ up off of an end table. The sandy haired boy grinned suddenly.

"That's _my_ textbook – see, my name's in the front cover." Ginny didn't need to open it to know that Colin Creevey's book in her hands. "My dad makes me write my name on everything before I pack it for school."

"Sorry," Ginny said. She put the book back where she'd found it, and turned to run back up the stairs.

"Wait!" Colin called after her. "You don't have to go – I'm sorry, _please don't go_!"

Something in his voice made Ginny stop, and she turned around slowly.

"I have to find my textbook – " She lied. To her great annoyance, Colin _laughed_ at her.

"It's one o'clock in the morning, nobody can be that far behind on their first day!"

"What business is it of yours, if I'm behind on my schoolwork or not?" Ginny snapped, taking a few quick steps towards him before she could stop herself. But Colin didn't shrink away, like she thought he would. In fact, it looked like he was trying his best not to laugh at her again.

The two second years stared at each other for a long moment in the dim firelight, until Ginny had almost forgotten why she as annoyed with him.

"So… Those hooded things on the train were really creepy," Colin said, decidedly ignoring the awkward tension. "Is that why you can't sleep either?"

"Dementors," Ginny felt as shiver go down her spine. "Professor Dumbledore and Professor Lupin called them Dementors."

"You met Professor Lupin?" Colin's eyes lit up with excitement as he bounced across the couch, motioning for her to join him. "We've got him tomorrow – what's he like?" Ginny approached cautiously, and settled in opposite him, tucking herself into a tight ball against the arm of the couch.

"He's nice – he got rid of the Dementors on the train, and gave us chocolate." She reached into her pocket, and pulled out the extra piece she had stashed away in case they came back in the night. Breaking it in half, she nervously passed the larger piece to Colin.

Ginny felt tense as she watched Colin start in on his chocolate, while she nibbled away at the corner of hers. She couldn't help feeling uncomfortable around Colin, and guilt usually knotted up her stomach whenever she thought of what she had put him through the year before. She was barely getting used to Hermione being so nice to her, and she had been writing Ginny constantly over the summer.

"Weren't you in a compartment with Harry Potter, when they came in?" Colin asked. Ginny nodded apprehensively.

"He's best friends with my brother Ron, I went looking for him when the lights went out." Ginny caught a glimmer in Colin's eye and felt her cheeks grow hot. "I wasn't – I was looking for _Ron_!"

Colin just smirked and rolled his eyes, and Ginny had to suppress the urge to throw something at his head.

"Don't worry," Colin smiled. "I won't tell."

"There's nothing to tell!" Ginny protested, but she couldn't stop herself from blushing. When Colin snorted, Ginny shot back.

"At least _I_ don't have a signed photo of him and that pillock Lockhart!"

"Better to have a signed photo than to have a dwarf in a diaper to chase him around on Valentine's Day!" Colin laughed.

Try as she might, Ginny could not rile Colin up, he would just laugh at whatever she fired his way, and respond in kind. Their banter became progressively more and more ridiculous, and it wasn't long before Ginny was stifling her own laughter. As is the norm when two teenagers do their best to keep each other in stitches in the middle of the night, the subject of conversation bounced around endlessly.

" – so Fred and George decided to get back at Charlie by sneaking itching powder into his rucksack. They must've though he'd lost his touch, until they woke up with green and purple hair!"

Colin let out a wonderful, full bellied laugh, and Ginny quickly threw a pillow at him for it.

"Percy's just upstairs!" She whispered through her own giggles. "If he hears us, he'll try to throw us into detention!"

It took a few minutes of giggling and coughing for the two to settle down again. Ginny was relaxed, laying back on the couch with her legs tangled in with Colin's, who had made a nest of throw pillows opposite her.

"So you have _five_ brothers?"

" _Six –_ we were visiting Bill in Egypt, and Charlie met us there. He works with dragons in Romania."

"Your brother trains dragons? That's the coolest!"

"You can't _train_ a dragon!" Ginny teased, shaking her head. "He _studies_ dragons."

"That makes sense," Colin looked very serious for a moment, as thought he was trying to work something out the logistics in his head. "We have a cocker spaniel, but we can't even get her to roll over. Imagine how much more difficult it would be to train _dragons!"_

Ginny couldn't help it – she busted out laughing again. The image of Charlie showing a dragon how to roll over like a cocker spaniel was too much to take.

From that night on, Ginny Weasley and Colin Creevey were an inseparable pair, and fierce defenders and protectors of one another. Their classmates soon knew better than to pick on the small muggle-born boy, as the fiery red haired girl had no qualms with hexing them behind a professor's back. And when Ginny would go quiet for no apparent reason, slipping into some dark, forgotten corner in her memory, her friends knew she wouldn't be back to her back to her normal self until she and Colin could steal away together, sometimes for hours at a time. It became a normal thing, for the inhabitants of Gryffindor Tower, to find the two curled up on a couch together before the dawn broke.

* * *

"Hospital w-wing." Sean stuttered, helping Ginny to her feet. The battle raged on outside, and for a moment, Ginny almost gave into the pain, almost let her own strangled screams for Colin out into the night. But they were not safe here. Once Sean was safe, she could give in. Colin would never forgive her if she didn't keep Sean safe.

The closer Sean and Ginny got to the Hospital Wing, the more destruction they saw. The occupants of the paintings had long since abandoned their backdrops, some of which were burned out of their frames. Bits of armour lay strewn throughout the halls, and the ever-increasing din of battle raged on throughout the floors below them.

Twice, they had managed to miss a turn, getting lost in the maze of rubble and haze of smoke and dust. When they finally found the Hospital wing, it was, as Ginny had predicted, deserted. The Great Hall was closer to the fighting, it wouldn't make sense to haul the injured any further than necessary.

Sean summoned a bottle out of Madam Pomfrey's office, and removed the make-shift bandages from Ginny's arm. She swore loudly as the Essence of Dittany stung her open wound, kicking out at one of the beds in the process.

She felt light headed, but there was no time to take a blood replenishing potion. Death Eaters would be making their way deeper into the castle, so they returned to the corridors, trying to find somewhere safe.

"You have fought valiantly." Tom Riddle's cold voice rang throughout the halls once more, and Ginny stopped cold.

"Lord Voldemort knows the how to value bravery." Sean held tightly to Ginny's hand, and it was impossible to tell whose was shaking more.

"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one."

"In here," Feeling exposed in the open corridor, Ginny pulled Sean into a classroom, and bolted the door behind them.

"I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful." Ginny squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip until it bled. She had no strength left to yell obscenities at the disembodied voice.

"I command my forces to retreat, immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity." She gripped Sean's hand like a lifeline as she heard a sob escape his lips.

"Treat your injured. I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you."

Ginny's eyes shot open, and she stared at Sean in terror.

"You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences."

"No…" She whispered, turning to Sean, hoping, for the first time in her life, that she had imagined Tom's voice, that nobody else had not heard the words that echoed in her ears.

"This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

Her heart had started beating again, and she dragged Sean behind her. The Great Hall, that's where they would be taking all of the injured, and all of the dead.

Voldemort's words still ringing in her ears, and the sight of Colin's body swimming in and out of her mind made it impossible to think of anything other than finding her family, finding Harry and Luna and Hermione –

Before she knew it, she and Sean were at the top of the marble staircase.

"We're almost there," She said, wrapping her arm around Sean's waste. "Come on – almost there." As one, the pair stumbled down the stairs, the tears finally breaking through to the surface, so close to their destination.

"Luna!" Ginny choked, barely being able to make out the two blurry figures that hurried to meet them. "Neville!"

"Ginny – " Neville began, but she cut him off.

" _Colin,_ " She choked, clinging to Sean protectively. "Colin's – he's – " She couldn't say the words, she couldn't make it real. Neville and Luna exchanged a look Ginny couldn't place, and didn't care to try to interpret.

"I'll take Sean – I'll take him inside – " Neville said, stepping towards them carefully. "You go with Luna."

"You have to get Colin," Ginny insisted, tightening her grip on Sean. "He's – the greenhouses – "

"I'll get him Ginny, I promise, but you need to go with Luna," Neville insisted, taking Sean's arm and prying Ginny off of him. Something in his tone made Ginny look at Luna, and realize that she too, had been crying. The fresh tears for Colin were streaming out of red-rimmed eyes, and over blotched cheeks that had been there before Ginny had broken the news.

"Why were you crying, Luna?" Ginny asked, shocked at the unfamiliar sight.

"Ginny – " She chocked

"No – no, Luna, you don't cry – " Ginny was panicking now, and she backed away from the open doors to the great hall. "No, you never – you never cry, Luna – Never,"

"Ginny, _please –_ "

"No – no, no, no, no, no – " Ginny was shaking, her eyes fixed over Luna's shoulder, catching glimpses of faraway figures with flaming red hair gathering together in the Great Hall. She grabbed Luna's shoulders in desperation, her knees buckling.

"Luna, please, _please_ , no - "

Luna reached up and took one of Ginny's hands in hers, leading her forward slowly. Ginny gripped at Luna's forearm with her free hand, sure she would leave a bruise, but afraid her legs would not hold her up on their own anymore.

As they two girls approached her family, Ginny looked up, looked to the tallest figures first, counting the faces of those that had survived this far.

Bill, and he was holding Fleur – Percy was next to him – Arthur –

Ginny inhaled suddenly – but the air never seemed to enter her lungs, her throat had nearly closed up completely. Nothing could have prepared her to see Fred's body laying out on the floor, half covered by Molly's sobbing form. George knelt at his head, his mouth moving, as Ginny knew he was begging his twin to wake up.

She heard someone call her name, and felt Percy pull her forwards, hugging her tight.

"I couldn't – there wasn't anything – " Percy stuttered, finally letting her go. She felt, rather than saw, Luna slip back into the crowd that surrounded them.

Tears sped freely down her cheeks now, and she didn't care. She caught sight of Remus and Tonks, laying nearby, and didn't know the ache in her chest could have gotten stronger until it had. She looked up and saw Bill watching her, with some strange mixture of grief and relief.

"Ron," Bill breathed, and Ginny turned to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione enter the Great Hall as well. Hermione's grimy cheeks were tear stained, and she sprinted towards them as soon as they locked eyes.

Ginny buried herself in Hermione's bushy hair, and felt the bubble in her chest burst, as wracking sobs escaped her lips.

"Fred – he's – " she began, but each word got stuck in her throat.

"I know, I know," Hermione was crying too, and squeezing her tight.

"And C-Colin – " Hermione squeezed her tighter, and it felt as though her arms were the only things keeping her from shattering on the stone floor. Together, they walked the few steps to where the others were standing.

Fred's face was wet with George's tears, and for a wild moment, Ginny thought it looked as though he was crying for their grief, for their heartache.

As impossible as it was for Ginny, Ron, Percy, and Bill to loose Fred, they clung to one another, separated them from their parents and George. There wasn't supposed to be favourites between siblings, not really. But for George to lose his twin, his second half, was an unimaginably cruel thing.

Hermione and Fleur wept shamelessly among them, comforting the Weasleys as best they could. Bill's eyes kept wandering over to the forms of Remus and Tonks, and he pulled his own wife in tightly, while watching protectively over Ginny and his younger brothers.


	35. Chapter 35 - The Forrest Again

Slowly, the rest of the Great Hall came into focus around Ginny and the other Weasleys. The injured were being treated by Madam Pomfrey, Hannah Abbott, and a few others on the raised platform where the head table usually stood, and small groups of students and teachers huddled around the hall, trying to comfort one another.

Ginny gave Hermione's hand a final squeeze, turned away from her grieving family, and looked around. More bodies were being brought in one by one, and some fighters were still making their way into the hall for the first time. A few heads turned her way as she passed them, and she half-expected someone to stop her, to tell her off for leaving the safety of the tomb that the Great Hall had become.

But half of the ceasefire had already passed, and there were still fighters on the grounds, cold and hurt and scared and alone. Besides that, she hadn't seen Harry since Ron and Hermione arrived, and she was getting nervous that he may be off doing something stupid.

As she passed through the Entrance Hall, she glanced around at the walls, but the names that had been painted there were barely visible now. What hadn't been blown away by wayward curses was stained with blood and coated with dust, and even those written high above the fighting were disguised by the ash from dueling. Nonetheless, Ginny's eyes found the place where she knew Colin had written Harry's name, and she blinked back her tears anew.

Her vision blurry once more, Ginny turned towards the doors, and made her way out onto the grounds, her mind lost in the memories of that early January morning.

Barely paying attention to where she was going, Ginny wasn't surprised when she collided with someone heading towards the castle.

"Sorry – are you – ?" Ginny stammered, wiping her eyes with the heel of her hand.

"No – yeah – sorry – " Her eyes flashed open when she heard his voice.

" _You!_ " She spat, aiming her wand at Draco Malfoy's throat.

"I'm not – please – " Draco took a step back, his hands held up between them in surrender. His eyes were ringed in red, and there was a smear of blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

"You're not _what_?" Ginny's voice and hands were steady, but she was sure he could hear her heart pounding in her chest. "A Death Eater?"

"I just want – I want to go back – " Ginny realized that he was crying, and it infuriated her.

" _Now?_ " She raged, stepping closer to him. "You want to go back _now?_ You – _you_ got Dumbledore killed! You let Snape and the Carrows take Hogwarts!"

"I didn't mean – "

" _SHUT UP_!"

" _Please_ – "

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" She roared, and sparks flew from the tip of her wand. "Do you know how many people have died because of _you_?"

In that moment, it made sense to Ginny; if Malfoy hadn't let Dumbledore die, Harry wouldn't have left – Dumbledore would have kept him safely at Hogwarts, the DA wouldn't have spent the year being tortured by Death Eaters, and Ginny would have spent the last two months at Hogwarts, instead of hidden away in the countryside.

"I know – you don't understand – " Malfoy sobbed, and Ginny couldn't stand to watch him a moment longer.

" _Get out._ " Ginny said through gritted teeth. "Get away from me, and stay away from my family."

Malfoy took another step back, and when Ginny didn't advance, he sprinted away from her. Shaking now, Ginny had half a mind to turn around and hex him as he ran away, but she didn't trust herself to stop after a single spell.

"Alright, Ginny?" Neville called out from nearby, his wand drawn as he looked in the direction Malfoy had gone.

"No." Ginny spat. "I shouldn't have let him go."

"You don't think he's trying to sneak up on us, do you?" Neville asked, still looking like he wanted to give chase. "Voldemort told all the Death Eaters to retreat."

"I think he's a coward, and he'd have better luck staying alive with our lot than his own." Ginny's jaw was beginning to ache from clenching. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to bring herself back to what was important. "Where's Sean?"

"Luna's with him, I told him I'd get Colin – before the fighting started back up." Neville said, as delicately as he could manage.

"He's – we were fighting by the greenhouses." Ginny offered, though she couldn't bring herself to look in that direction.

"Yeah – Look, Ginny, I'm really sorry, about Fred, and Colin. And Professor Lupin and his wife." Neville's words were making it hard for Ginny to swallow, but she nodded in thanks. He reached out and gave her arm a squeeze, before turning towards the greenhouses, where Colin's body lay.

Ginny braced herself, and turned to the open grounds. Dawn was approaching, and the darkness was slowly lifting. From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of movement, and went to approach it cautiously.

As she got closer, she heard sobbing, and lowered her wand.

"Hello?"

There was no discernable answer, but Ginny recognized the shape of a girl with her head buried in her knees, and her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

"Are you hurt?" She asked, her eyes straining to see.

"I want my mum," the girl whimpered as Ginny crept closer. " _I want my mum_ ,"

"It's alright," Ginny answered softly, trying to get a better look at her. "It's okay. We're going to get you inside,"

"But I want to go _home_ ," whispered the girl. "I don't want to fight anymore!"

"I know," Ginny couldn't help it, her voice broke. "It's going to be alright."

Ginny couldn't understand anything else the girl was saying, but she knelt down next to her, and placed a hand on her forearm, trying to calm herself down as well now. Ginny closed her eyes and bit her lip, wishing she was home, too. Wishing her own mother wasn't in the Great Hall, weeping over Fred's body.

Hearing – or rather, feeling – someone walking up behind her, Ginny opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder. It was still dark, but she could clearly see that there was nobody else left on the grounds. She almost called out, when the girl let out another sob.

"Let's get you inside, come on – " Ginny went to put her arm around the girl to help her to her feet, when suddenly, she jerked away.

" _Don't!_ "

"It's alright," Ginny tried to reassure her.

"Don't – don't touch it!" The girl finally looked up, and Ginny recognized her as a Hufflepuff named Megan, from Harry's year.

"You're hurt?" Ginny asked, and she looked down at her own fingers, which had bushed against the Megan's robes. There was a smear of blood across her fingertips. "We need to get you inside, Madam Pomfrey can fix you up."

"She _can't_ , she can't fix this!" Megan turned towards Ginny, burying her head in her shoulder. Confused, Ginny stroked Megan's hair, hoping she would calm down in time for Ginny to get her inside.

"Can you tell me?" Ginny asked. "Can you tell me what happened?"

She shook her head vigorously.

"Can I look? Can I check your shoulder?"

Megan took a shaky breath, and sat silent for a moment longer, before slowly nodding her head, and unfolding herself from Ginny.

"Don't touch it – I – I don't think you should touch it."

"Alright, I won't touch it." Ginny promised, and watched as the girl reached towards the shoulder Ginny had grazed earlier, pulling her cloak off to the side. Ginny restrained herself from gasping when her wandlight fell onto a wound the size of her fist. It looked as though the bleeding had stopped, but no spell Ginny had encountered could have torn through flesh like this.

"How – Did you hear which curse - ?" Ginny asked, tearing her eyes away.

"It wasn't – it was _him_ – the one everyone talks about – he _bit_ me – "

All of a sudden, Ginny understood.

"Greyback? Did Greyback do this?"

Megan nodded and swallowed hard, as tears welled in her eyes again.

"I recognized him, from the pictures in the Potterwatch Pamphlets. Am I – ?"

"No." Ginny answered fiercely. "You're not going to be like him. Look over there – go on, look."

"You see that?" Ginny pointed her towards the quarter moon, which was hovering over the lake. "It's not full. You won't be a – you won't be like him."

For the first time since she was twelve, she was hesitant to use the term _werewolf_ , fearing it would send the other girl back into her shell. Her first instinct was to find Remus, but her stomach jolted, as she remembered that Remus couldn't help her anymore, that he wouldn't be able to comfort this girl, he couldn't be who she needed right now.

Looking around towards the castle, Ginny searched for someone who could help.

"You're sure?" The girl asked. "You're sure I can't be?"

"I'm sure, I promise – Neville!" Ginny felt a flutter of relief as she recognized a figure wandering towards them.

"Ginny?" Neville called back. "You girls shouldn't be out here – the hour's almost up!"

"I know!" Ginny reached around her companion's back, being careful not to touch her wound. "We're coming in now – I need – I need to you go on ahead and get Bill."

"You alright?" Neville asked, hesitating halfway between Ginny and the castle.

"I'm fine, just get Bill!"

Ginny watched as Neville turned around and sprinted away from them.

"Neville's right, we need to get inside, we can't stay out here."

"They're coming back?" The girl asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes, they're coming back. But we won't be here when they do. We'll be inside – " Ginny desperately wanted to say _where it's safe_ , but she couldn't bring herself to lie.

Megan seemed to be calming down as they walked back across the grounds, and began to stumble through telling Ginny what should could remember of the battle.

"I had come out to the grounds with one of the groups of fighters when it all started. We were doing alright for a while, until Professor Lupin was killed, and there was another wave of Death Eaters, and we didn't know what to do – we got separated dueling."

"That's when came at me, and I didn't understand why until I saw his face… I could never forget that face…" Megan pulled herself tighter into her cloak as they approached the main doors, and walked into the light. Ginny could see her properly now, he pale face seemed to glow against the dark bloodstain that had smeared half her neck and cheek.

"I thought I'd die right then, but Parvati and Lavender saw it happen, and blasted him back, chasing him into the castle. When I realized what happened…" Megan trailed off, and brushed away her tears with the back of her hand. "Have you seen them? Parvati or Lavender?"

Ginny thought back to when Hannah and Lee had made a break for the Great Hall at the beginning of the night – was that before or after Megan had been attacked? Everything that had happened in the past four hours was jumbling together now.

"I think so – Parvati was dueling in here – Someone in the Great Hall will know."

As they crossed through the Entrance Hall, Ginny caught sight of Bill and Fleur sprinting out towards them.

"Are you 'urt?" Fleur asked, reaching the girls a few steps ahead of her husband.

"I'm fine," Ginny said, for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. "It's Megan – Megan, this is my brother Bill, and his wife Fleur."

Bill caught his sister's eye, and Ginny motioned to Megan's shoulder discreetly. Walking across the grounds didn't seem to have agreed with her wound, and it was bleeding again.

"Can we have a look at your shoulder, Megan?" Bill asked kindly, nodding to Ginny that he understood. Megan shrunk away for a moment.

"I don't think – is it safe?" Megan was still looking at Ginny, clearly still worried that the bite could infect others.

"It's completely safe, I promise." Bill assured her. "Fleur cared for me after I was attacked by Greyback, and suffered no ill affects." Megan's eyes widened, and she turned to face Bill for the first time, and caught sight of his scars.

Ginny helped Bill and Fleur coax Megan inside, bringing her to a small group of Greyback's other victims. With her charge safely in her brother's care, Ginny did a quick search of the hall, her eyes falling on Sean, Luna and Neville, who were watching as Oliver Wood gently laid Colin down nearby. As she walked to them, she saw her family and classmates scattered about, healing and consoling where they could. Only George remained at Fred's side, hugging his knees. There was still no sign of Harry.

Silently, Ginny sunk down next to Sean, leaned her head on his shoulder, and slipped her hand into his. There was no point in asking how he was doing, and there were no words that would help him.

Ginny was exhausted; physically, emotionally, and in every other sense of the word. For just a moment, she closed her eyes, wishing she could fall asleep, and that she wouldn't wake until it was all over. She couldn't even wish it was all a nightmare, couldn't imagine a dream being able to cause her this much pain. She just wanted to sleep through the rest of the pain, with Sean kept safely between her and Luna as Neville stood guard nearby.

"What am I going to tell him?"

Sean's words brought Ginny back to the bustle or the Great Hall, and she looked up to him. His eyes were dry now, but somehow darker too.

"Dennis, I made him go – Colin wanted to help them get away from that Prefect, but I told him they had to go with the others."

"Colin wouldn't have wanted Dennis to see this," Luna said.

"Shes's right," Ginny offered, squeezing Sean's hand and pulling herself closer to him. "We'll go with you, when it's over. We'll tell him together."

Sean leaned his head against Ginny's, and she felt him nodding against her, before his shoulder started to shake again.


	36. Chapter 36 - The Flaw in the Plan

**A/N:** As you may have noticed, Chapter 1, and Chapters 30 to 36 are named for the chapters of Deathly Hallows that they correlate to. I have not included the DH chapter "King's Cross" as it happens in a different time and space that what Ginny and the rest of the characters, aside from Harry, experience.

* * *

There was a thick tension in the Great Hall as dawn approached. People were constantly checking their watches, counting the minutes left in the ceasefire, preparing themselves for the battle to begin anew. As the hour mark came and went, whispers began to spread through the survivors, and even Kingsley and McGonagall, who were strategizing with the rest of the Order of the Phoenix in the middle of the hall, looked unsure of how to proceed.

Had Voldemort's side suffered more casualties than theirs? Were his Death Eaters weakened, and vulnerable for an offensive front? Did the Order have enough fighters of their own to launch such an attack?

Ginny decided that she had no desire to have any input on the matter. Her own theories were dark and foreboding, and she was grateful the adults would be making the decisions.

"HARRY POTTER IS DEAD." Voldemort's voice shocked Ginny out of her thoughts, and she barely registered the words that were bursting through the hall.

"He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him." All around her, people were looking to their loved ones in disbelief. Ginny felt her breath catch in her throat – she couldn't breathe.

"We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone. The battle is won. You have lost half your fighters. My Death Eaters out number you and the Boy who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist; man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family." Ginny pulled herself to her feet, and drew her wand.

"Come out of the castle, now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live, and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

" _He's lying_!" Ginny screamed, looking around wildly, and the crowd turned to stare at her. Her eyes found Ron's.

"He's _lying_ – " She knew she didn't sound convincing, that she sounded like she was begging.

"Yeah – yeah, he's lying…" Ron answered, and Ginny wanted to believe him.

"Ginny - I saw him… when we were on the grounds, he had his invisibility cloak – " Neville began, but Ginny cut across him.

"No! He wouldn't – that was something else – he had a plan, it has to have been something else!"

There was a sudden movement in the hall, as Professor McGongall walked briskly through the crowd towards the doors, her robes billowing out behind her. Ginny followed without another thought, ignoring her mother calling out to her.

As they descended the front steps, Ginny looked out over the grounds in the dim light, as an army of Death Eaters marched towards them. They looked especially foreboding, as they were followed by the giants, and Voldemort himself led the mob with Nagini draped across his shoulders. Just behind him, Ginny could make out Hagrid's unmistakable silhouette, and she felt her heart pounding out of her chest.

"NO!" McGonagall's scream cut through Ginny like a blade, and she looked back to Hargid, and realized that he was carrying a body.

"Harry! HARRY!" Ginny's screams mingled in with Ron and Hermione's as she ran towards him without thinking. Ron grabbed her around the middle and noise erupted from all around them as the rest of the fighters realized that Hagrid was clutching Harry's lifeless form.

Ginny tried to throw Ron off, but he redoubled his grip, and the rest of their family and the DA crowded around them.

"SILENCE!" Voldemort roared. Ginny seethed as she felt the all too familiar silencing spell take hold, and the crowd fell mute. "It is over! Set him down, Hargrid, at my feet, where he belongs!"

Ginny watched Hagrid do as he was told, and she shook with rage and grief. Ron had tried to lunge forward now, and she was barely paying enough attention to catch him in time, and help Hermione hold him back.

"You see?" Voldemort was pacing back and forth now, in a show of victory and perverse grandeur. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you remember now, diluted ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"

"He beat you!" Ron yelled, his face twisted as he strained against the girls. His outburst broke Voldemort's silencing charm, and Ginny joined in as the crowd called out obscenities until they were muted once again.

"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds," Voldemort spat. "Killed while trying to save himself - "

From Ginny's left, Neville bolted out of the crowd before anyone could stop him. Ginny tried to call out, but couldn't make a sound. She watched in horror as Voldemort aimed a curse at Neville, knocking him back and disarming him in one blow.

"And who is this?" Voldemort asked. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"

"It is Neville Longbottom, my lord!" Bellatrix laughed. "The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?"

In the great expanse between the two armies, Neville scrambled back to his feet, and Ginny could barely bring herself to watch what would happen next.

"Ah yes, I remember. But you are pure-blood, aren't you, my brave boy?"

"So what if I am?" Neville spat.

"You show spirit and bravery," Ginny could hear Tom's voice more than ever now, as he once again tried to charm a Hogwarts student into doing his bidding. "And you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."

"I'll join you when Hell freezes over!" Neville shouted. "Dumbledore's Army!" Ginny and the others let out a great roar of cheering, as Neville raised his fist in the air in defiance.

"Very well," Voldemort's voice had turned malicious, and Ginny felt as though she had been doused in ice water. "If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head, be it."

With a twitch of his wand, the sorting hat flew out of the headmaster's window, landing in Voldemort's spiderlike hands.

"There will be no more sorting at Hogwarts School. There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone, won't they, Neville Longbottom?"

Neville's arms and legs snapped together as Voldemort's body bind curse took him hostage. Ginny felt someone's hand on her elbow as she took a step forward, and saw that she was not the only one in the crowd who was stirring as Voldemort approached Neville Longbottom, leader of Dumbledore's Army. The Death Eaters, who had begun to close in around their flanks, raised their wands in warning, and Voldemort crammed the Sorting Hat over Neville's head, pulling it down over his eyes.

"Neville here is going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me."

Ginny screamed as the Sorting Hat was set aflame on Neville's head, and she was not alone. The noise of the crowd was so loud, it took her a moment to realize what else was going on across the grounds.

Their cries were not being echoed off the mountains, but by a crowd of witches and wizards who had stormed the gates of Hogwarts, who were barely heard themselves, as Grawp had appeared from around the side of the castle, roaring for Hagrid. It was only when Ginny watched in horror as Grawp was swarmed by the larger Giants as he tried to get to his brother, that she looked back towards the forest and saw the herd of centaurs charging towards them.

Ginny had barely registered that reinforcements had arrived, when Neville's war cry brought her gaze back to center. He broke free of the body bind, and in one smooth motion, ripped the hat from his head and pulled the ruby guilt handle of the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, beheading Voldemort's great snake.

It was like watching through Omnioculars set to slow motion – Ginny knew what was coming, she knew she was about to watch Voldemort kill Neville, but she was incapable of reacting. Voldemort let out a scream of rage as he cast his spell, only for it to rebound a foot away from Neville's chest, and hit a Death Eater instead.

"HARRY! HARRY – " Hagrid's panicked voice cut over the chaos. "WHERE'S HARRY?"

Ginny stepped towards the opposing army, when she was tugged backwards towards the doors to the castle.

"Move!" Percy ordered, and Ginny quickly saw why. As the ground reinforcements from Hogsmeade grew ever closer, so did their airforce. Buckbeak and swarms of Threstrals had returned, dive-bombing the Giants from every direction, and there were a few near misses as the latter began stumbling through the battlegrounds. Both armies ran for cover inside the castle, barely paying attention to the Death Eaters that had fallen going up the steps as they trampled over them.

As the fighters burst into the Great Hall, the tension that had been building on the grounds exploded, and spells began to fly through the air as duels broke out everywhere throughout the hall. Ron rushed past forward and joined Neville in dueling Fenrir Greyback, while Percy and Arthur teamed up against Thickness.

Ginny nearly cursed Narcissa Malfoy, who had been rushing through her crowd with Lucius, when she caught sight of Bellatrix Lestrange over Narcissa's shoulder – aiming her wand straight at Luna's back.

Ginny's curse didn't miss her mark this time, and the bolt of green light from Bellatrix's wand was deflected, blasting a crater into the wall. Ginny and Hermione shoved past the Malfoys, and faced off with Bellatrix. Luna joined them as she and Professor Flitwick finished off the masked Death Eater they had been batting.

"Thank you, Ginny," Luna smiled, as she deflected another of Bellatrix's spells herself. "I never was very good at – "

" _Not the time_ , Luna!" Ginny said through gritted teeth, nearly tripping up their opponent. It was hard enough to concentrate on a single duel, when so many others were taking place in close quarters. Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw that Bill and Fleur were dueling back to back with Charlie, who had charged into the Hall with Slughorn and the residents and shopkeepers of Hogsmeade.

It had been months since she had dueled next to Luna, and longer still with Hermione, but the three girls soon found their rhythm. Ginny wished they could have used the combined stunning spell that had been so effective earlier out on the grounds, but there were too many distractions, and Hermione had never seen it done.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped, and for a moment, Ginny thought she'd been hit. Kreature and a battalion of House Elves had stormed in from them kitchens, viciously attacking the shins and ankles of Death Eaters.

By now, Voldemort himself had made his entrance, and was dueling McGonagall, Kingsley and Slughorn all at once. The three girls maneuvered carefully, rotating their duel with Bellatrix so they could see the central battle over her shoulder, while trying to keep their backs covered from a blind attack.

More and more Death Eaters were being immobilized, and Hogwartians who had defeated their opponents joined in on other duels, or set to stunning Death Eaters who were fool enough to leave themselves exposed. Duels were even becoming physical – Ginny was not surprised to see McNair thrown across the hall by Hagrid, but had not expected that George and Lee would body-slam Yaxley from behind as he tried to hex Flitwick behind his back.

Bellatrix cackled madly as she dodged Ginny's Conjunctivitis Curse, and there was a glimmer of something dark in her eyes as she moved quicker than lightning. Ginny felt a rush of hot air brush past her ear as the Killing Curse missed her head by less than an inch.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" Molly screeched, much to the Death Eater's delight. Ginny's mother had come out of nowhere, stepping in between Bellatrix and her three opponents.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" She ordered, and Ginny did not think of disobeying. She watched with and mixture of nerves and raw pride as her mother's spellwork wiped the smile from Bellatrix's face. There were hardly any Death Eaters left in the hall, and several students began moving towards the two women.

"No! Get back! _Get back!_ She is mine!" Molly ordered. Ever watchful for Mrs. Weasley to need a second wand, the students moved away from the duel, and Ginny saw that most of the fighters were now clustered around the outskirts of the Great Hall, watching in awe. She backed up just far enough to find a place between Ron and Neville, who looked equaling conflicted about the situation before them.

"What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" Bellatrix taunted "When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?"

Ginny had not thought it possible for her mother to look more terrifying than she had when she had joined the duel, but she was wrong.

"You – will – never – touch – our – children – again!" Molly's wand slashed through the air with every word, as the Death Eater squealed with perverse delight.

When Molly's final curse struck, Ginny thought that is was Bellatrix that screamed over the cheers of the onlookers. As she watched McGonagall, Kingsley and Slughorn being thrown aside like rag dolls however, she realised it was Voldemort's screams, furious that his last, best lieutenant lay dead on the floor at the hands of Molly Weasley.

Ginny's heart nearly stopped as she saw Voldemort point his wand at her mother, but she could do nothing – there was no way to get there in time, she wouldn't even have time to yell a warning –

" _Protego!"_

And suddenly, Harry was back.

The hall erupted in wild cheering, and Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville all grabbed onto one another in disbelief. The jubilation only lasted a moment however, and Ginny felt her heart racing as the crowd fell silent, watching Harry and Voldemort square off, the invisibility cloak discarded at his feet.

"I don't want anyone else to try to help," Harry instructed, as the two began circling one another. "It's got to be like this, it's got to be me." There was a stirring around the hall, but nobody disobeyed.

"Potter doesn't mean that, that isn't how he works, is it?" Voldemort sneered. "Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"

"Nobody, there are no more Horcruxes." Ginny almost looked to Ron and Hermione for an explanation, but she didn't dare take her eyes away from the pair. "It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good…"

The more Harry spoke, the more agitated Voldemort became. Everyone listened intently as he revealed Voldemort's weaknesses, taunting him as he explained that when Harry had _died_ in the Forbidden Forrest not an hour before, he had protected the fighters of Hogwarts from Voldemort and his Death Eaters, as his mother had done for him.

They learned that Professor Snape, whom Dumbledore's Army had been fighting against since he had taken the post as Headmaster, had been a spy for Dumbledore all along, and that he now lay dead at Voldemort's hand on the floor of the Shrieking Shack.

Throughout all of this, Harry kept bringing the conversation back the Elder Wand, which seemed to be, in Voldemort's opinion, the greatest weapon one could possess. Harry's coaching tone made him sound as though he were teaching a new technique to the DA, dropping hints here and there, and waiting patiently for his student to grasp the concept.

According to Harry, Dumbledore had been in possession of the Elder Wand for years, decades even. When Draco Malfoy had disarmed him atop the Astronomy Tower the year before, its ownership passed to Voldemort's youngest Death Eater. And yet somehow, in the scuffle at Malfoy Manor, Harry had ripped Draco's wand from him, and thus become the true master of the Elder Wand, which Voldemort had desecrated Dumbledore's tomb to retrieve, and held tightly in his grasp at that moment.

"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" Harry said, and Ginny knew they were done talking. She gripped her wand tightly, ready to defend Harry should Voldemort obtain the upper hand - she wasn't about to let him die for them a second time.

"Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does… I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

Sunrise broke through the windows behind the pair, and Ginny couldn't help but shield her eyes from the sudden brightness, as Harry and Voldemort's final battle began.

Harry's Disarming Spell collided with Voldemort's Killing Curse between them, as golden flames erupted from the place where the two spells met. It was over before Ginny had realized it, as she watched Voldemort's wand soar out of his hand and into Harry's, its false master hitting the floor with a final, resounding, thud.

The hall remained silent, hardly able to believe that Voldemort had been defeated at last, and that his body lay motionless before them. It wasn't until Ron and Hermione broke from the edges of the Great Hall, sprinting towards their champion, that those around them erupted into deafening cheering. Ginny was on their heels, leaping into Harry's arms as she reached him.

She could feel his breath across her skin, his hair brushing her lips, even the rims of his glasses cutting into the back of her neck. He was there.

"Don't you _ever_ die on me again," she whispered, burying her face into him, and he squeezed her tighter.

They had only a half a moment though, as there were so many more groping for a chance to thank him and rejoice alongside him. She allowed herself to be absorbed back into the crowd, and eventually found herself on the outskirts of it. Though there were no words to describe the elation and relief she felt, though the hole in her stomach remained, as the memory of those who had been lost rose back to the surface.

The excitement died down, and Ginny watched as the practical things began to take place. While Harry was dragged around the Great Hall to console the bereaved and thank the injured, others began clearing up the battlefield.

Madam Pomfrey, Molly Weasley and a handful of others took the worst of the injured up to the Hospital Wing, where they were being stabilized and sent on to Saint Mungo's, while Fleur and Professor Slughorn had taken charge of the less urgent cases in the Great Hall. Bill found himself surrounded by Megan Jones and half a dozen other witches and wizards, each with a varying degree of lacerations from Fenrir Greyback and his entourage.

Seamus, Dean and Luna had pulled blackboards out of nearby classrooms and set up a registration center in the entrance hall. They filled it with names, injuries and sleeping quarters of everyone who had taken refuge in the castle, as family members from all corners of the country had begun to pour into Hogwarts.

Ginny found her place in the great hall, bringing medicines and supplies to those who were caring for the injured. It kept her busy, while giving her the freedom to wander through the crowd and check on her brothers and friends as often as she needed to.

"We're running low on pain management potions, and calming draughts; we're going to have to start halving the dosages wherever we can." Slughorn instructed as Ginny refilled her potion bottles from the cauldrons along the head table.

"Water it down instead; it'll be better if they think they're getting the full dosage." Angelina suggested, measuring out equal parts water and potion. "If it got Ron over his nerves on the Quidditch Pitch, it's worth a shot." Ginny copied her and turned back to the Great Hall, a small case of bottles and jars balanced on her hip.

She made her way over to Charlie, who was charged with fighters who had suffered burns.

"How's he doing?" Ginny asked, filling the goblet Charlie handed her with diluted Calming Draught.

"He's let me examine him finally, and his shoulder seems to be the worst of it – drink up, Perce." Charlie answered, pushing the goblet into Percy's hands. Ginny stoppered the bottle she was holding and pulled out a jar of familiar yellow paste.

Charlie began applying the salve to his younger brother's charred shoulder, and updated her on the other patients in his section.

"Michael will need another dose of Blood Replenishing Potion when you have a minute, he's bled through his bandages again. I wouldn't bother with a calming draught again for Trelawney, see if Fleur can spare some Dr. Ubbly's Oblivious Unction though."

Ginny nodded, still crouching next to Charlie and inhaling deeply. It didn't mattered how many times he showered or washed his clothes, he always smelled of wood smoke and sawdust.

"Other than that, it's just a lot of bandages that need changing." Charlie said as he returned the jar to her crate. Ginny nodded and pushed herself back to her feet, and her gaze falling back to three figures who were curled under a single blanket nearby.

"How have they been?" she asked.

"Asleep for the last fifteen minutes or so, I think." Charlie said gently, following her eyes to where Dennis Creevy slumbered between Sean and Jimmy Peakes. "You should trade off with someone, get some rest yourself."

"I'm almost done my rounds, and Kreature said they'll be serving breakfast soon." Ginny answered, tearing her eyes away from the little group. She was sure Charlie was about to insist she take a break, though he seemed to have thought better of it.

Ginny spent the rest of the morning rationing out clean dressings and pouring out the potions as prescribed, until finally Molly and the others returned from the Hospital Wing. She allowed herself to be led to a nearby table, where she nibbled on her piece of honeyed toast until she fell asleep against her mother's shoulder.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yes, I know, " _in the movies"_ Arthur stops Ginny from running forward, but I _hate_ how that scene was interpreted in the film, and decided to use book canon instead.


	37. Chapter 37 - Nineteen Days Later

In the weeks since the Battle of Hogwarts, many changes had come to the Burrow. In fact, despite the efforts so many had put in to re-build their home, Ginny would almost have argued that it wasn't really the Burrow at all.

The Death Eaters had restrained themselves when they had come in search of the Weasleys over the Easter Holidays, though their home had suffered enough damage that parts of it had to be completely re-built. The sitting room had received most of the damage, though Ginny's bedroom, which had been situated directly above it, was a close second. Every door had been blown off its hinges, and every room had had its floorboards ripped up.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and their children had done their best to return the Burrow to its original state, though some things couldn't be restored. The sitting room looked altogether too new – gone was the scorch mark on the carpet where Charlie had one set it alight when Ginny was three, and every other little imperfection that had held some precious memory. More than once, Molly had been found running her fingers along the new, spotless wood of the kitchen's door frame, where scratches had once marked the growth of all seven Weasley Children.

Fleur and Bill had moved back in temporarily, pitching a tent in the back yard while Charlie slept in a cot in Percy's room. Ginny wouldn't admit it for years to come, but she was incredibly grateful for her sister-in-law's presence in those first two weeks. While Molly seemed to be spending her days cooking and grieving, Fleur kept the rest of the household in check.

She made sure each of the Weasleys (Molly included) ate at least two meals a day, and took up the laundry when nobody else seemed to have the energy. Percy was her greatest help, as he seemed determined to be as helpful as possible, though he often got underfoot in the process.

Hermione had taken charge of sorting out the many memorials and funerals the Weasleys and Harry would be expected to be seen at. She recruited the eldest two Weasley brothers to help gently remind everyone of the upcoming events, and Fleur made sure appropriate robes were left hanging neatly on the backs of everyone's door. Ginny's eyes had remained dry on the morning of Colin's memorial, until she caught sight of the midnight blue dress Fleur had lent her. It was precisely the shade of Colin's favourite dress robes.

There was a constant stream of visitors at the Burrow as well, as lonely and bereaved members of the Orders of the Phoenix seemed drawn to their old headquarters when they found themselves in need of companionship. Andromeda Tonks and her little grandson were frequent visitors, for which the residents of the burrow were grateful.

Harry had watched his godson being passed around from one set of arms to the next, the first time they had arrived after Remus and Tonks' service. He looked entirely unsure of what to do with himself, and watched Charlie smile sadly as Teddy gripped his finger. Hermione cringed a little when it was her turn, as Teddy had reached up and tugged hard on one of her long curls. Untangling the baby, she passed him to an unsuspecting Harry, who had managed to stay just out of reach up until that point.

"Put your hand behind him here – that's it." Hermione instructed. Harry stared down at the little boy for so long, Ginny thought he might have been counting the freckles that had bloomed across his nose since his arrival.

During subsequent visits, the Weasleys quickly learned that if they wanted to hold Teddy Lupin, they had to have their turn before Harry got his hands on him. Without fail, Harry and Teddy would disappear not long after someone had passed the baby into his godfather's arms, only to be found out in the garden or the orchard, or tucked away in Harry and Ron's room when Andromeda was preparing to leave.

* * *

The sunset was spreading ribbons of bright pink and rich purple across the horizon, silhouetting the figure of a young witch with bright, flowing red hair sitting atop the roof of the Burrow. She was exhausted, but she there was a foreboding shadow in the back of her mind that willed her to stay awake, just for one more night. Ginny had fallen asleep in an armchair after supper again, and was sent to bed by her sister-in-law nearly half an hour ago now.

She had not truly slept in days, if not longer, and once again pulled her broomstick out from under her bed, and rode it up past Ron's bedroom window, to her favourite section of rooftop. She had been dimly aware that Harry had been in the room he shared with Ron as she passed by, and so was not surprised when he appeared, hovering on his Firebolt, a few minutes later.

Neither of them spoke when we arrived, and when Harry sat next to her in silence, Ginny did not shift. She stared blankly ahead and waited for him to tell her that enough was enough, that she needed to snap out of it and start living again. She waited for the speech on bravery, for him to remind her that Fred, and Colin, and Remus and Tonks, and all the others hadn't died so that she could hide away inside of herself for weeks on end.

But he just sat next to her, until she became lost again and nearly forgot he was there.

"We apparated into Muggle London, it was Hermione's idea of course. Most of the better ideas were hers." Harry's voice was quiet and soft, barely more than a whisper. Ginny didn't move, and had she not been there first, might have wondered if Harry thought he was alone. He seemed to be speaking to the air itself.

"As soon as I worked out what had happened, I wanted to go back, I remember just wanting nothing more in that moment, than to get back – " Harry's voice died away for a moment, before he cleared his throat with a cough and continued.

"We went into a café, so we could plan our next move, but the Death Eaters found us – the Taboo must have taken effect as soon as the ministry fell."

Ginny listening to Harry recall the events that had transpired since he, Ron, and Hermione had disapparated from Bill and Fleur's wedding all those long months ago.

He filled in the blanks of the Ministry break-in, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck bristle at the cruelties he witness at the hands of Dolores Umbridge, and her chest swelled with pride hearing how Arthur stood up to him, thinking he was Runcorn.

"We kept changing campsites every night – I don't even know where we were half the time. We didn't know about the snatchers, and somehow avoided them for months. We never ran into anyone other than the odd muggle until-" He paused, looking uncomfortable for the first time since he had begun his tale.

"There was a group that camped near us one night," he paused once more, and let out a sad sigh. "It turned out to be Dean, Ted Tonks, Griphook, and a few others. They were talking about Snape, and the Sword of Gryffindor and – you."

It was the first time that Harry had formally acknowledged Ginny's presence. She turned her head towards him, and was surprised to find he was staring at her, unblinking.

"Griphook said you'd tried to steal the Sword, but you'd gotten yourself caught." Ginny's shoulder twitched, a ghost of a shrug, and Harry shifted his gaze slightly, and continued.

"It took some persuasion, but Phineas Nigellus' portrait filled us in on the details, he told us you and the others had been sent into the forest with Hagrid on detention, and - " He stopped abruptly, as though he had suddenly remembered something. Ginny bit her lip nervously, thinking about Phineas' lie, which was no doubt on Snape's instructions.

"What is it?" Harry asked when he saw her face change. "You – you did have detention with Hagrid – didn't you?"

Now it was Ginny's turn. She took a steadying breath, and looked up at the overcast sky – it had been the type of day Colin would have loved to spend bossing them all around from behind his camera.

"The detention with Hagrid wasn't for that, that was months later." As she began to speak, she understood how Harry had been able to go on without stopping for so long. Everything began to spill out, from when they first started planning and practicing Disillusionment Charms, to Sean and Colin's distraction in the great hall – she surprised herself when she said his name aloud.

She explained that she scar he had eyed on her left calf had come from the sword when she tripped down the stairs, trying to escape with it hidden beneath her robes. Harry listened in silent horror as she detailed how the Carrows had coached the Slytherin students in using the Cruciatus Curse on them, and how brave Luna and the others had been.

Her hands and her voice remained steady until she described being forced to kneel on the cold stone floor next to a bowl of warm blood.

"When I started to – when Nott made me write on the wall – it – started to come back. I could see it, and I could hear _him._ " She explained, her hands balled into tight fists. "It all came back, I didn't even know it could come back like that. I remember how he used to talk to me in my head, and the first time he made me open the Chamber of Secrets – killing the roosters, using their blood to write on the wall – "

Ginny's voice trailed off and she closed her eyes, willing the images to leave her mind.

"Then the others got loose, and I blacked out. I woke up in the hospital wing the next day." She finished, chancing a glance at Harry. His face was white as a sheet, and his mouth was hanging open slightly.

"Ginny – I – I had _no idea_ … " Harry's voice sounded oddly horse. "We – we thought you were with Hagrid, I didn't know – "

Ginny suddenly became aware of the streaks of salty tears on her cheeks, and brushed them away, pretending Harry couldn't see them in the dim light.

"That was the worst of it for a long time, Snape must have reigned them in." She added.

When Harry stayed silent, but it was his turn again.

"That must have been when you split up? Bill told McGonagall, we were all worried when Ron wasn't spotted at Luna's house with you and Hermione." Ginny pressed.

Harry cast his eyes down and ran his fingers through his hair nervously.

"We had a row." He admitted finally. "Don't be angry with him, he was worried about you, and it turns out he was right to be."

Ginny was quiet for a moment, as the reality of Ron leaving the other two alone sank in. She had always wanted to believe they had decided to send Ron to Shell Cottage together, or that he couldn't travel for some reason.

"He came back," Harry insisted. "As soon as he could. We had moved camp before he could find us though. He was even with us at Luna's, under the invisibility cloak, so the Death Eaters wouldn't see him."

Harry waited for Ginny to respond, to throw out some comment about Ron's cowardice, and when she didn't, he continued to tell her about going to Godric's Hollow with Hermione, and how Grindewald's mark led them to visiting Luna's father in the hills beyond the burrow.

Ginny's lip twitched when he had to back track to telling her about how Snape had given them the sword in the Forrest of Dean, and he explained how Ron had saved him from the icy water.

By the time Harry finished, the sky had gone completely dark, and the pair had laid back on the roof, looking up at the stars, their shoulders nearly touching. It was a warm evening, and the noise from the rest of the Weasleys in the lower floors of the burrow couldn't reach them.

Ginny wondered if Harry was expecting her to tell him more about what Hogwarts had been like, but she wasn't ready for that yet, and he was patient. Or perhaps he wasn't read either. Under the cover of the night, Ginny shifted her hand slightly, slipping her fingers between his, and thankful once again that he had been able to return from the Forbidden Forest.

"I supposed you'll have your hands full with Ron for a while, then?" Ginny asked once the silence had grown familiar.

"You don't think he's gotten used to us yet?" Harry asked, sounding only mildly concerned.

"What? No, I meant – There's spiders. In Australia, big ones." Ginny explained. It seemed like it had been years since she had said anything so casually unimportant. She had been dreading saying goodbye to the trio since Hermione and Ron had begun making plans to find the Grangers.

"Oh, I er – I thought you knew?" Harry sounded a little awkward as well, which made Ginny feel a little better. "I thought it might be best if they, you know, had some time to sort some things out on their own."

Ginny's stomach did an odd little flop when he said this.

"So… you aren't going with them?" She asked.

"No, not this time." Harry had begun to trace his index finger in little circles on her knuckle – a habit of his that Ginny had completely forgotten about.

She wasn't ready to be happy yet, but the idea that there was a choice now – that they could choose to try, when they were ready, lit a little spark inside of Ginny's chest.

* * *

"Aunt Ginny! Aunt Ginny!" a young boy's voice rang through the front hall of the Potter house early one summer evening.

"Teddy, please, I only just got James down for his nap." Ginny begged the seven year old. He was sporting messy, jet-black hair today, as he usually did whenever he went anywhere with his godfather.

"Sorry!" Teddy answered in an exaggerated whisper. "But you'll never guess what Uncle Harry did!"

"No, I probably won't, so I guess you'd better tell me." Ginny said with a wink up at her husband, who had just come in the door himself.

"He _punched_ a baddie!" Teddy exclaimed with great pride.

"He _what?"_

"Now hold on, that's not - "

"We told Andromeda you wouldn't be taking any field cases when you have Teddy with you!"

"It's okay, we stayed in the _boring_ ministry all day, I didn't get to _see_ it!" Teddy butted into the whispered argument.

"Some of the other Aurors have been telling him stories, that's all." Harry explained calmly. Ginny stood up to her full height, though her husband was still a full head taller, and crossed her arms.

" _Really?"_ She asked, doing her best to emulate her mother's powerful glare.

"Really!" Teddy interjected once more. "They only told me the story, but I _wish_ I'd been there!" There was no use in trying to slow him down at this point, so Ginny watched their young charge with bemusement.

"They were after a group of baddies, and when the Aurors caught up with them, they started dueling, and one of them, his name was Nott, lost his wand and tried to escape, and Uncle Harry _punched_ him! _POW_!"

Ginny's eyes shot to Harry, who had been running his fingers through his hair, as Teddy flailed around the kitchen retelling the story.

"Is that how it happened, then?" She asked, finally. Harry shrugged a shoulder and twitched a half smile, which Ginny took to mean 'more or less.'

She was caught between wanting to smack the back of his head, and kiss him full on the mouth, before James' cries from the nursery beckoned Harry to safety.


	38. Chapter 38 - Creevey & Peakes

The cheery sound of a bell rang out through Creevey & Peakes as its young proprietor leaned against the front counter, frowning over an order of spellbooks due to arrive at the end of the week. He checked his watch as subtly as he could before greeting his customer. _Why did they always wait until he was about to close up?_

"Anything I can help you find today?" He asked, his eyes still on his order. He was _sure_ he'd ordered more copies of the textbook for the NEWT level Herbology students, Neville had owled him specifically about the class expanding this year. He realized too late that the man at the door had said something, and seemed to be waiting for an answer.

"Sorry, wrackspurts." Sean muttered, shaking his head a little and stowing his paperwork beneath the cash register. "What can I do for you?" He asked, before turning his eyes to his customer. He looked familiar, maybe a year or two younger than Jimmy and Dennis.

"I er – I was just on my way to the pub, and… just thought I'd pop in…" the young man stammered, running his fingers through his dark hair. Sean looked a little harder now, unsure of exactly why he was supposed to remember the wizard before him. The youthful freckles that spattered across his otherwise fair face were what finally clicked everything into place.

"Owen Cauldwell!" Sean remembered suddenly, and a smile spread across Owen's face. "I'm sorry, I've had my head in a ledger all day. You must have just finished school last week, then?"

"Finished at Hogwarts, yes, but I'm starting my training to be a Healer in September, if I've done well enough on my exams." Owen answered, sounding a bit more like the excited boy Sean remembered.

"That's fantastic! We see a lot of Mediwizard Students on weekends, especially up at the Three Broomsticks." Sean said with a laugh as he lifted himself onto the front counter, his feet dangling only inches from the ground.

"I've already started looking for a flat, spent all day in London, actually." Owen said, looking more relaxed. "Figured it'd be better to be prepared for when I get my exams back, otherwise all the good ones'll be taken."

"You should talk to Jimmy," Sean said, jerking his head towards an open doorway behind the counter. "Dennis will be moving in with Demelza once they're back from their Honeymoon, and he's been grumbling about putting an advert in the Prophet for a flat-mate the past couple weeks."

"Don't you er- live upstairs?" Owen asked, glancing at the door he assumed led to the shopkeeper's living quarters.

"When we knocked the wall out between Florean's ice cream parlour and the empty shop next door, we left the two upstairs flats separated. I live in Florean's old place, and the boys took the other one when they finished school." Sean explained, gesturing to the ceiling, showing Owen where the upstairs wall would be.

"He's in the shop with me tomorrow, if you wanted to drop by in the morning. We don't usually get busy before ten, so I can spare him while he shows you around. If you're interested."

Owen seemed to be wrestling with some kind of inner dilemma as he stared, first at the ceiling, then aimlessly around the shop. Sean couldn't help but notice that he had once again started running his fingers through his hair, though he didn't seem to be aware of it himself.

"If it's cost you're worrying about, I always hire a couple students over the summer. I had some bad luck with some sixth years last year, so I was looking for someone a little older to help out anyways." Sean prompted.

"What? Oh, that sounds great, you er- you sure? Shouldn't I interview or something?" Owen asked, snapping back to the present conversation.

"Come by tomorrow, we'll show you the flat, and if you like it, we'll put you in the ice cream parlor for the day. If you can survive the first Saturday of summer, you're hired." Sean hopped off the counter, and extended his hand. Owen seemed to have decided he liked the idea, and an excited grin split across his face as he shook Sean's hand.

* * *

"Sean? There's a wizard out here asking for you, says he's early?" Owen said, poking his head into the back office a few weeks later.

"Shit, he is early, I told him to come by after we closed." Sean said, getting up from his desk and pulling off his shop apron. "And Jimmy's already gone for the day, _and_ I still have to change."

"I can close up on my own, we only have a couple customers left." Owen offered, opening the door wide enough that he could lean against the frame. Sean hesitated for a moment, before finally nodding.

"Alright." He agreed, leaving his desk in an unusual mess as he stepped past Owen and started climbing the staircase up to his flat.

"Wait," Sean called back in a slightly more hushed voice, pausing on the third step. "What's he wearing?"

"I – what?" Owen froze on his way back to the shop, confused.

"What's he _wearing_? I always overdress on a first date, Jimmy or Dennis usually give me a heads up." Sean repeated, as if it were obvious.

"Oh… I – wear your dark brown robes." Owen said, looking like he'd recovered from having the wind knocked out of him. He watched Sean climb the rest of the stairs before returned to the front counter.

"He's still working. Said he'll be out when he's done." Owen informed the man who had asked for Sean.

"Not to worry, I'll have tea while I wait." The stranger answered cheerily. Owen bit his tongue and began fixing the tea, resolved to spend as little time in his presence as possible, even if it meant re-cataloguing the entire children's section. He didn't even look up when Sean emerged, only to leave moments later.

While he was closing up, Owen remembered Jimmy mentioning bringing a girl to the flat that night, which did little to improve his mood. Resigned to avoid any uncomfortable situation with his flatmate, Owen made mug a hot chocolate and set himself up in one of the squashy armchairs near the ice cream counter. He pulled a stack of books out from behind the counter and set them carefully on the little round table next to his mug.

That's how Sean found him hours later, his brow furrowed as he studied the textbook balanced on his knees, under the only lamp still glowing in the shop.

"Everything go okay?" Sean asked, coming in through the back entrance. Owen had heard the door open and hoped he'd go straight up, postponing the inevitable awkward conversation.

"Someone burgled all the mint chocolate chip, but I set some nine-year-olds on him." Owen answered without looking up.

"The usual then," Sean sighed, dropping himself into the adjacent chair. Owen looked up, ready to say something snarky back, but stopped when he caught sight of Sean's face.

"Was he _that_ bad?" he asked, closing his book, perhaps a little too eagerly.

"He said he was a _journalist_ ," Sean moaned, shaking his head. "I thought that would at least make him interesting! I had counted on some decent conversation at least, but as it turns out, he writes a monthly gossip column for the _Prophet_." Owen had to restrain himself from laughing out loud when he saw Sean deflate.

"He was too old for you, anyways." Owen chuckled, getting up to start a kettle.

"You sound like Dennis." Sean answered, apparently not finding the humour in the situation. "I _tried_ dating younger blokes, but…" Owen half expected him to say that anyone under the age of twenty was only after a shag, but Sean stayed quiet.

Owen glanced over his shoulder, and found Sean's eyes glazed over, as he sat lost in thought.

"It's _hard._ " He said, finally. Owen walked around the counter, following his gaze. The front of the ice cream counter was papered with black and white photographs, some moving, others frozen. Owen had always loved these photos, even the ones that stood still and ordinary seemed to have some new detail to them each time he looked. His favourite was of two girls peeking into the windows of the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade.

Sean was staring at one of the magical ones though, where four boys in their mid-teens gathered in pajamas around a Christmas tree. Younger versions of Jimmy and Dennis were wrestling, while Sean was sitting on the floor, and a near carbon copy of Dennis rested his chin on Sean's shoulder.

Owen didn't know what to say. He had been thirteen during the Battle of Hogwarts five years ago, whisked away to safety with Jimmy and Dennis and the others. He stood next to Sean, staring down at Colin's gleeful face, and felt guilt settle itself in the pit of his stomach.

"Sorry," Sean said, shaking himself out of his trance. "I shouldn't be - "

The sound of the kettle whistling cut him off, and Owen nearly tripped himself to get to it. He busied himself with the tea before taking a steadying breath and returning with the two steaming mugs. At least when he came back, Sean had a little smirk on his face.

"What?" Owen asked, honestly curious.

"Just wondering what my mother's going to read about me in the gossip column." He chuckled. Owen smiled behind his mug.

"Well, you didn't bring him home, so he's bound to work in how prudish you are," Owen offered.

"Too true. She'll howl at that. I think the only alternative would have been to let him critique my choice of toiletries, or agree to see him a second time," Sean mused. "And I honestly can't decide which one I'd find more tedious."

They spent a little more time abusing the gossip columnist than was strictly necessary, though they eventually transitioned from Sean's love life to Owen's classes, which he would be starting in a little over a month's time. From there, there was talk of their families, and they eventually found themselves discussing the very shop in which they were sitting.

"I always thought it was named for Colin?" Owen asked, stepping lightly on the subject. Sean scrunched his face, as if he was looking for a very specific word.

"It was and it wasn't," he began, slowly. "Col and I had planned to open this place together, as soon as Florean's family put the ice cream shop up for sale. I wanted to turn it into a little hole-in-the-wall bookshop, but it was _his_ daft idea to keep the ice cream parlour and add the bookshop on through the neighbouring building." Sean explained.

"Our parents had already put a down payment on both spaces when he died, but they didn't want to push it on me. Nobody wanted to push anything on me at that point, and I honestly don't remember a lot of that first year." Owen listened intently, afraid to say anything that might upset Sean somehow.

"But Dennis… well, Dennis _cornered_ me, a couple weeks before graduation. I don't think I've ever seen him so angry."

"He yelled at you?" Owen asked before he could stop himself.

"You could say that. He said he'd waited long enough for me to decide, and that if I didn't open the shop, he'd leave Hogwarts and do it himself." Sean's lip twitched up at the memory. "I'd forgotten how much we talked about it with Dennis and Jimmy, how excited they had been about it. I was completely caught up in my own grief."

"So we did it. The three of us worked non-stop for weeks to get this half open, so we could get enough business through the summer to afford the rest of the renovations and inventory. Once the boys went back to Hogwarts in September, I would send all the ledgers to them on Fridays, and they'd handle most of the orders and balancing books while I ran things on this end." Sean said, sounding beyond proud of his brothers.

"I'd honestly be completely lost without Dennis. Just trying to work everything out these past couple months while he's been away has been a nightmare. I'm sure when he gets back from Holiday, he'll tell me I've got everything backwards." Sean sighed.

The sound of someone creeping down the stairs made Sean roll his eyes as they sat quietly, listening for the sound of the back door closing behind Jimmy's latest lady friend.

"Guess it's safe for you to go up, then," Sean yawned.

"Here's hoping that at least Jimmy's getting enough sleep to be a functioning human being tomorrow. Merlin knows we won't be." Owen added, as he caught sight of the time. Before he had time to think about it, he took Sean's outstretched hand, and allowed himself to be pulled out of his chair. Thankfully, Sean released him as soon as he'd gotten to his feet, and was too busy tidying the dirty dishes to notice that Owen seemed to be having trouble steading himself.

"Do me a favour, and don't mention how early I got in? I can't take his gloating." Sean said offhand. Owen smiled and nodded, not quite trusting himself enough to try forming a coherent reply. It was like a spell had broken, and Sean didn't even seem to have noticed.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. He'd found some excuse to come into the shop every time he was in Diagon Alley for the last four years. Somehow, instead of finally working up the courage to ask Sean out for drinks, he'd wound up working for him, living across the hall from him, and making tea for men who were so incredibly _wrong_ for him.

* * *

Owen was just trudging down the stairs between the two apartments early one morning when he heard the lock on the back door of the shop click below him. He stood frozen as someone who was neither Sean nor Jimmy opened the door and stopped, staring up at him from under his cloak.

"Coffee." The wizard grumbled. Owen stared, not really sure if he should call out to the others or not.

"You do work here, don't you?"

"We're uh – we don't open until - "

"I _know_. I _own_ the damned place. And it's early, and I have two months' worth of fucked up books to fix. And I _need coffee_." Owen shook himself awake as he watched Dennis Creevey hang his cloak on a hook. He didn't give him a chance to ask again as he rushed to the coffee station at the front end of the shop.

By the time the coffee was ready, Sean and Jimmy had come barreling down the stairs to meet Dennis, and Owen finally dared to venture into the office.

"I thought you'd take a few days to get settled into your new place," Sean explained a little sheepishly as Dennis riffled through leafs of parchment that had been spread over the large desk.

"Month end is Thursday, and I'd rather be here than watching Demelza and Ginny decide where each spoon gets put in the new kitchen." Dennis said, taking a mug from the tray Owen was carrying.

"I thought you said this one was a talker?" He asked Sean, jerking his head towards Owen.

"You aren't allowed to judge anyone this early in the morning, mate." Jimmy chided, seemingly unable to stop grinning at the fact that his best friend had returned. Owen passed out the rest of the coffees, then leaned against the door frame, just watching.

The Peakes' took turns drilling Dennis for details of his trip, some of which Owen was sure would have gone unanswered if the new Mrs. Creevey had been in the room. Every so often, Dennis would realize he was supposed to be working, and try to push the others out, only to remember _one more thing_ he _had_ to tell them before they left.

Finally, somebody realized that customers would be expecting them to open soon, so Jimmy and Sean hurried upstairs to change out of their pajamas. Stacking the empty mugs back onto his tray, Owen looked up to ask Dennis if he'd like the pot left on his desk, we he noticed the other wizard was _staring_ at him. Staring at him and _grinning_. It was the same mischievous grin Owen had come to know through the photographs that covered the walls of both the shop, and his flat.

"What?" He asked, his heart racing in his chest. His inquisitiveness only seemed to amuse Dennis further.

* * *

August flew by in a blur. Once Hogwarts sent out the book lists, there seemed to be a never ending stream of students and their parents in the shop. Of course, Creevey & Peakes offered a free child's ice cream with the purchase of a complete set of textbooks, so Owen spent most of his days scooping cones for excited schoolchildren.

Once in a while, the Potters would come in, often with little five-year-old Teddy Lupin in tow. If the shop was running smoothly and they stayed to have tea with Sean, Owen learned to keep the boy occupied up at the front, letting him help to press buttons on the register.

Then suddenly, the shop was relatively empty. It was September first, children were boarding the Hogwarts Express, and their parents were enjoying the peace and quiet of their own homes.

Owen would be starting his own classes in a few days' time, and despite never really having planned to spend his summer in a book shop and ice cream parlour, closing up on his last day felt strange. Tomorrow, he would be little more than Jimmy's flatmate, or the bloke who sometimes helped out if when he wasn't busy studying.

"Well, Jimmy and Dennis are prats." Sean called out as he bounced down the stairs into the shop. "Both of them made dates for tonight, and I can't decide which one I'm more annoyed with. Demelza wouldn't mind, and it's not like Jimmy can't get a date whenever he likes."

"Do you still want to – I mean, if it's just the two of us?" Owen asked, as it suddenly clicked why the other two had been whispering in corners together all day.

"It's your last day, I'd be a terrible boss if I didn't at least take you out for a pint." Sean insisted.

"I'm going to enjoy you no longer being able to call yourself my boss," Owen teased, locking the front door.

"Watch it, I'm still your landlord." Sean warned, but there was nothing unkind in his eyes as he jumped onto his usual perch on the counter. "Where did you want to go? The Leaky Cauldron's close by, but we can be a little more adventurous if you're in the mood." Owen ruffled his hair for a moment, thinking.

"I'm a bit worried that if I go out somewhere crowded, I'll start reminding patrons to keep their ice creams and drinks off the carpeted half of the shop." Owen joked, thankful for the low lighting when Sean started laughing.

"Hang on, I think I have an idea," Sean chuckled, sliding off the counter and disappearing up the stairs. Moments later, he reappeared with several bottles under his arm, and a pair of drinking glasses.

"Now you only have to worry about keeping _me_ off the carpet." He said with a smirk as he poured amber coloured liquid into the glasses. Owen felt himself blush scarlet at the idea.

Owen climbed onto the counter next to Sean, incredibly aware of the two foot gap between them. Soon enough, they fell into their comfortable rhythm of conversation that had become normal for the two of them, especially as they cleaned up at the end of a day's work.

This time though, Owen's heart didn't slow down, and his stomach refused to untie itself as time seemed to speed up and slow down without reason.

"I suppose we'll have to adjust your rent now that you're an unemployed student," Sean said after a while, nursing his second drink. Owen swallowed hard and chanced a look at the young man next to him, knowing he'd have to tell him sooner or later.

"You won't need to do that," He murmured averting his eyes again. "I've got gold put aside to pay for the flat while I'm at school."

"So you never really needed a job?" Sean asked, perplexed. "And you still spent your last free summer serving ice cream to screaming children?" Owen sat precariously on the ledge on the counter. He was ready, now.

"No, I - I spent my summer with you." Sean cocked his head, but didn't try to interrupt.

"That first day I came in, I was… trying to work up the nerve to ask you out. And then you offered me a flat, and a job, and I figured it'd be easier to get you to go out with me if we knew each other a little better. Because I think when I came in, I was still that annoying third year who used to follow you around at school." Owen was incredibly grateful that Sean hadn't started laughing.

"And I knew I couldn't ask you while I worked at the shop, which was kind of nice, because I got to relax a bit. But then we'd spend hours together talking, and I was so jealous of the blokes you went out with, but then you'd tell me how terrible they were, and we'd sit up all night… and it all sort of backfired." Owen finished, suddenly aware of how fast he'd been talking, and that Sean was looking right at him, and smiling. But it wasn't his usual, teasing smile.

"It doesn't sound like it backfired to me," he said softly. Owen closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"But it _has_ backfired. If you'd said no months ago, I'd have gotten over it, I'd never really know what I was missing. I could have imagined you weren't worth it and gone out with somebody else." Owen said, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that there was now only a six inch gap between the two of them. He could barely take the silence that followed.

"So, what are you going to do?" Sean whispered finally.

"I… hadn't really thought much past this part." Owen admitted sheepishly, biting his lip.

"Well, the way I see it," Sean said, leaning in slightly. "You have two options. You can either ask me out, or find a new flat." Owen's mouth fell open as he stared openly at him, his heart beating a mile a minute.

"I – what?"

"You can't be living under the same roof as a man you're falling for, and not act on your feelings. It's not healthy." Sean informed him matter-of-factly. Owen swallowed hard. Why was this so difficult? He'd spilled his guts already, Sean knew how he felt, there was no going back now. He turned towards Sean, barely daring to think past this moment.

"Sean?" he asked softly. Their foreheads were nearly touching.

"Yeah?" he answered, and Owen felt his breath tickle against his cheek.

"Would you go to dinner with me?"

"Hell yeah." Sean breathed his answer against Owen's lips, before leaning into him. His hand had crept up Owen's arm, finding its place just behind his ear, pulling him deeper into their kiss.

* * *

It was nearly six years later that Owen brought Wren home with him from Saint Mungo's. Sean had been listening to him talk about the seven-year-old girl with eyes as big as galleons for weeks, and held him when he wept, finally accepting there was nothing more he could do for her mother. Until the fostering paperwork had gone through, Owen slept on a cot in the Healer's Lounge on the children's floor, because he was the only one who could get her to go back to sleep at night. During that time, Ginny and the others pitched in to renovate the two separate apartments into one, while Luna and Sean painted a thousand stars and constellations onto the ceiling of Wren's new room.

Jimmy bought a flat of his own down the street from the growing Cauldwell-Peakes family, and he became a favourite uncle to both Sean and Owen's, and Dennis and Demelza's children.

It was the Potters who brought three year old Sydney into their lives the spring that Wren turned fifteen, and by the second week of summer holiday, patrons were used to seeing the olive skinned teenager balancing her fair haired sister on her shoulders as she served their ice creams.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you all so much for reading, I can't believe I'm finally done! Please post reviews!

There were a couple details I always wanted to include, but couldn't work in because it was either awkward, or because Ginny didn't know.

1\. After Ginny wakes up in the Hospital Wing in chapter 12, the group speculates that Colin's emotional distress allowed him to use Accidental Magic to break the shackles, which led to their escape. Ginny and the others will never know the truth, but it wasn't Colin. Watching Ginny be forced to re-live her possession and the effect it was having on her and the others would have been traumatic. Taking advantage of the wild panic in the room, Draco released them.

2\. After they fought their way out of the dungeon, Neville, Luna, Colin and Sean were rather unwilling to separate into their own dormitories, especially considering Luna had very little emotional support in her house. Colin and Sean were unwilling to part, not to mention that Colin already had to leave Ginny in the Hospital Wing. Coincidentally, the 7th Year dormitory had 3 less occupants than beds, so Colin slept in Harry's bed, Sean in Ron's, and Luna in Dean's. Luna in Dean's bed is a bit of a foreshadowing of their friendship when they take refuge at Shell Cottage.

3\. Snape was the one who wrote Mary MacDonald (Mike's niece)'s name on the wall after Christmas. In a memory, Lily scolded Severus, saying "Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev? He's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary MacDonald the other day?" And he wrote her name, because she was Lily's friend, and Lily would have wanted her to be remembered.

4\. Ginny threw away the portrait that she and Colin had used to communicate in the middle of the night. Hermione secretly repaired the frame (because when Ginny throws something away, it's usually done violently) and replaced the portrait with a snapshot of Colin. She presented it to Ginny in their compartment of the Hogwarts Express on September 1st.


End file.
